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H.K.H. THE PRINCESS LOUISE. 



THE 



ROYAL PRINCESSES 



ENGLAND. 



from t\t pp at €eorp t|e first 



BY. 

/ 

MRS. MATTHEW HALL, 

AUTHOE OF 

'THE QUEENS BEFOBE THE CONQUEST," "NOBLE DEEDS OF WOMAN,' 

ETC. 



8 



WITH A PORTRAIT OF THE PRINCESS LOUISE. 




LONDON : 
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, 

THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE. 

NEW YORK: 416, BROOME STREET. 

1871. 



LONDON : 

6ATILL, EDWARDS AND CO., PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET 

COTENT GARDEN. 






CONTENT?, 



PAGE 
SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HANOVER, QUEEN OF PRUSSIA, LAUGHTER OF 

GEORGE I. . . . . 1 

ANNE OF HANOVER, PRINCESS ROYAL, ELDEST DAUGHTER OF 

GEORGE II., AFTERWARDS PRINCESS OF ORANGE 45 

AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANORA OF HANOVER, SECOND DAUGHTER OF 

GEORGE II 80 

CAROLINE ELIZABETH OF HANOVER, THIRD DAUGHTER OF GEORGE II. 114 

MARY OF ENGLAND, LANDGRAVINE OF HESSE CASSEL . . . .126 

LOUISA OF ENGLAND, QUEEN OF DENMARK . . ' 133 

AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OF BRUNSWICK, ELDEST DAUGHTER OF FREDERICK, 

PRINCE OF WALES 133 

ELIZABETH CAROLINE AND LOUISA ANNE, DAUGHTERS OF FREDERICK, 

PRINCE OF WALES 166 

CAROLINE MATILDA, QUEEN OF DENMARK, YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF 

FREDERICK, PRINCE OF WALES 173 

CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA, PRINCESS ROYAL, ELDEST DAUGHTER 

OF GEORGE III., AFTERWARDS QUEEN OF WURTEMBERG . . .216 

AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AND AMELIA 305 



IV CONTENTS. 

PAGE 
ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND, LANDGRAVINE OF HESSE HOMBURG, THIRD 

DAUGHTER OF GEORGE III 333 

PRINCESS MARY, DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER, FOURTH DAUGHTER OF 

GEORGE III 344 

CHARLOTTE CAROLINE AUGUSTA, DAUGHTER OF GEORGE IV. . . 366 

VICTORIA ADELAIDE MARY LOUISA, PRINCESS ROYAL OF ENGLAND 

AND PRINCESS OF PRUSSIA 389 

ALICE MAUD MARY, SECOND DAUGHTER OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN 

VICTORIA, AND PRINCESS LOUIS OF HESSE-DARMSTADT . . .477 

PRINCESS HELENA AUGUSTA VICTORIA, THIRD DAUGHTER OF HER 

MAJESTY 499 

LOUISE CAROLINE ALBERTA 516 



THE ROYAL PRINCESSES, 

$ot t\t $*ijjtt «f top % first 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HANOVER, 

QUEEN OF PRUSSIA, DAUGHTER OF GEORGE I. 

History of Sophia Dorothea of Zeil, her mother — Her father, George I. 
— George II. and his sister brought up under their grandmother's 
care — Character of Sophia Dorothea of Hanover — Sophia Charlotte, 
First Queen of Prussia, sister of George I. — Her excellent character 
— Charlottenburg named from her — Her death — Offers made to the 
Crown Prince of Prussia — Refuses all — Marries the Princess of 
Hanover — Preparations for the wedding — Remark of the French 
king — Marriage solemnity — Sophia Dorothea's public entry into 
Eerlin — Public festivities — Birth of her daughter — Her baptism — 
Prediction about her marriage — Queen follows her husband in his 
warlike expedition against Sweden — Her return — Education of her 
children — Her own accomplishments — Prince Royal, afterwards 
Frederic the Great — Difference of taste of the King and Queen — 
Projected alliances — Death of Frederic I. — Story of the White 
Woman of Brandenburg — Despotism of the new King — Ill-treats 
his family — Taken ill — Sends for Queen — Makes his will — Cabal 
against the Queen — Death of her grandmother, Sophia of Hanover 
— Her father becomes King of England — Mon Bijou — The Czar 
Peter the Great visits the Court of Berlin — Death of Sophia 
Dorothea — Death of George I. — Parsimony of the King of Prussia 
— Allowance granted his Queen from England — Interviews between 
George and Sophia Dorothea — Treaty of marriage broken off — 
Scene between the Crown Prince and his father — Illness and death 



2 THE EOYAL PKINCESSES. 

of Frederic William I. — His obsequies — Tall regiment disbanded 
— Widowed Queen kindly treated by her son — No share in his 
government allowed her — Frederic enlarges her residence, Mon- 
bijou — Treatment of his Queen — Death of the Queen Mother,. 
Sophia Dorothea — Her family. 

One of the most ill-fated marriages recorded in the annali 
of history was that which gave to this throne a line of 
sovereigns of the House of Hanover. 

George Augustus, Elector of Hanover, inherited the 
crown of England in right of his mother, Sophia, to whom, 
in failure of her own issue, it was bequeathed by Queen 
Anne. That aged and intellectual Princess did not live to 
wear it herself, for she preceded Anne to the tomb ; and on 
the Queen's death, in 1714, George, Elector of Hanover, 
came over to England, and assumed the crown. 

Many years prior to the accession of George I., in 1682, 
Frederick Ernest Augustus being yet alive, and his son 
only Electoral Prince, George had espoused his cousin 
Sophia Dorothea, daughter of the Duke of Zell, by whom 
he had two children, both born at Hanover — George 
Augustus, afterwards George II., King of England, and 
Sophia Dorothea, subsequently Queen of Prussia by her 
union with Frederic "William I., a son of King Frederic I,, 
by Sophia Charlotte, sister of George I., his wife's aunt. 
Sophia Dorothea, Queen of Prussia, and her husband, were 
therefore, like their brother, the King of England, equally 
descended from Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of James I., 
and the House of Stuart. Frederic the Great, so re- 
nowned in the history of Europe, was the offspring of this 
marriage, and his sister was also ancestress of the Eoyal 
family of Wurtemberg, into which Charlotte Augusta, 
Princess Eoyal of England, eldest daughter of George III., 
subsequently married. With such materials as these, the 



SOPHIA DOEOTIIEA OF HANOYEB. 3 

history of Sophia Dorothea of Prussia becomes important 
and interesting in the last degree ; but before proceeding 
to its details, some account merits here to be given of her 
ill-fated mother, that much-injured and ill-fated lady, the 
Princess Sophia Dorothea of Zell. Although that unfortu- 
nate Princess was never destined to wear the crown- 
matrimonial of England, to which she was as much entitled 
as her husband was to the crown-potential, but had been 
divorced from the Elector prior to his accession to the 
throne of this country, and consigned to an imprisonment 
only to terminate with her existence ; her right as a woman, 
a wife, a mother, was to have inherited the regal honours ; — 
and though in this respect to be compared, perhaps, to 
Berengaria of Navarre, that she never set foot on English 
shores, Sophia Dorothea would have held an honourable 
and graceful rank among the most dignified of our English 
female Sovereigns. Wit, beauty, gentleness, and all the 
attributes of womanly virtue so pre-eminently possessed 
by the Queens of England, were united in the wife of 
George I. ; but alas ! those eyes and that heart, where the 
merit should have been most appreciated, did not warm 
beneath so genial an influence. Let me narrate in as few 
words as possible the particulars here necessary to be 
given of her sad history, and then pass from it to that of 
her Eoyal daughter. 

William, Duke of Brunswick Lunebourg, grandfather 
of George I., had seven sons, who, anxious to build up their 
Electoral dignity, agreed on his death that one only of 
their number should marry, in order to convey the inherit- 
ance undivided to his children. The assembled Princes 
drew lots in the hall of their deceased parent as to which 
it should be, and George, the sixth son, was the fortunate 
individual ; he it was who, by marrying Anne Eleanora, 



4 THE BOTAL PRINCESSES. 

daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt, became 
lather of Frederick Ernest Augustus, husband of the 
Princess Sophia, to whom Queen Anne bequeathed her 
crown, and father of our King George I., who had the 
good fortune to live to wear it, and through whom it was 
transmitted to our most gracious Sovereign, Queen Victoria. 

George "William, another of the seven sons of George, 
Duke of Brunswick, was afterwards Duke of Zell. Although 
lie had entered into an engagement with his brother Ernest 
Augustus, heir to the Dukedom of Brunswick, and Bishop 
of Osnaburg, that he would never many, he was not proof 
against the charms of the fascinating and amiable Eleanor 
d'Olbreuse. He became so deeply in love that, finding no 
other way of securing a prize he so much coveted than by 
marriage, he obtained the lady's consent to a " morganatic" 
union, or marriage called "left-handed," which union 
does not entitle the issue to inherit, as children of a tie 
contracted in the usual manner would do. By this artifice 
the future Duke of Zell settled the matter according to 
his own conscience, as regarded the keeping unimpaired 
and undivided the family estates. He married Eleanor, 
the woman of his choice, and a more happily united pair 
in tastes and pursuits could scarcely have been found than 
they turned out to be ; nor was their affection diminished 
when to their home were added successively four smiling 
infant faces, in testimony of the parents' love. Not long, 
however, were they permitted to be so blessed. But one 
of the four survived the perils of infancy — the fair girl, their 
first-born, to whom had been given the name of Sophia 
Dorothea, the meaning of which, when translated, is " Wis- 
dom, the gift of God." 

An only daughter and rich heiress, the hand of Sophia 
Dorothea was likely to be eagerly courted. While yet a 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HAXOVER. 5 

child of seven years old, her playfellow in the gardens and 
galleries of Zell had been Philip Christopher von Konigs- 
mark, a handsome Swedish youth, whose father was the 
intimate friend of the Duke of Zell. But the intimacy 
was not long continued, though after events connected the 
circumstance with the fortunes of Sophia Dorothea, and 
render the notice of its occurrence important. 

Before she attained her tenth year she was promised to 
Augustus Frederick, Crown Prince of Brunswick WolfeR- 
butfcel. The fortune of war was, however, inauspicious to 
this match ; the young Prince was cut off in the flower of 
his age at Philipsburg, and such was the youth of Sophia 
Dorothea that she could hardly be said to have felt the 
loss. At a subsequent period Augustus William, brother 
of the deceased Prince, became a suitor for the hand of 
Sophia, the coveted prize of many an aspirant. In this 
instance the young lady was not indifferent ; but though 
her mother favoured the hopes of the young lovers, the 
Duke, her husband, did not approve of his daughter being 
matched with the brother of a former suitor, and was re- 
luctantly prevailed on to grant his assent. His love for 
his child, however, prevented his interposing his parental 
authority any further than to signify his opinion, so that 
Sophia Dorothea and Augustus William looked forward 
to a happy future. How little of foresight, alas ! is there 
in the range of human calculation ! Could the fair young 
girl, not yet in her seventeenth year, have gazed upon the 
face of her future, as it was to be, what would she have 
seen ? Let me not be beforehand with that sorrow-fraught 
tale. 

It was at this very juncture that Ernest Augustus, 
Elector of Hanover, " presumptive heir to his brother 
George William in the Duchy of Zell, as a masculine fief 



G THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

was likewise desirous of securing the allodial or personal 
inheritance of the elder branch of his family. He de- 
manded, therefore, the Princess Sophia Dorothea in mar- 
riage for his son George Louis, the Hereditary Prince of 
Hanover. The Duke of Zell consented to the proposal ; hut 
it is universally asserted that neither the Duchess, his 
wife, nor the young Princess herself, submitted to it with- 
out great reluctance and considerable opposition. The 
nuptials were nevertheless solemnized in November, 1682. 
In the following year she brought into the world a son, 
who was afterwards King George II. His birth was one 
year afterwards followed by a daughter, who, by her 
marriage with Frederic William L, became Queen of 
Prussia."* 

Various portraits of Sophia Dorothea still exist in the 
Palace of Hanover, as well as in that of Herenhausen. 
Mr. Wraxall says, " I have studied them with attention ; 
and if I were compelled to name any person now living to 
whom they bear a particular resemblance, I should say it 
was to the celebrated Mrs. Draper, better known under 
the name of Sterne's Eliza ; but the Princess was unques- 
tionably by far the most beautiful of the two women. In 
a Yerj capital picture of her, which struck me yesterday 
at Herenhausen, she appears to be in the bloom of youth. 
The contour of her face is more round than oval, the fea- 
tures regular, and their expression gay, pleasing, and ani- 
mated. Pier eyes are hazel, and her brown hair plays 
negligently over her forehead. The painter has dressed 
her in a lilac coloured dress, richly embroidered, which is 
closely fitted to her body, and calculated to display the 
delicacy of her shape. Over her left shoulder is buckled 
a blue mantle, adorned w T ith flower-de-luces ; and behind 
* Wraxall, " Courts of Berlin/' &c. 



SOPHIA DOEOTHEA Ol 1 HANOVER. 7 

her stands a negro girl, who holds out to her a scarlet 
riband. This portrait was probably done soon after her 
marriage in 1682, when she was about seventeen, and can- 
not be considered without emotions of concern for her 
subsequent fate." 

Soon after the birth of his daughter, which took place 
a twelvemonth later than that of the son, George Louis 
openly neglected his wife, mixing in the society of worth- 
less characters about the Court ; treating the unfortunate 
Princess with unkindness, even outrage ; nor could she 
walk through the apartments of her own Palace without 
her presence being insulted by the sight of some of her 
husband's abandoned favourites. A discarded servant of 
Madame von Platen — one of those worthless creatures 
who exercised an improper influence over George Louis — - 
having been received under the protection of the Duchess 
of Zell, mother of Sophia Dorothea, she determined upon 
effecting that ill-fated lady's ruin. Unambitious in her- 
self, Sophia Dorothea was yet unhappy amidst the opening 
prospects of her husband's family, through the absence of 
conjugal affection ; and, while blest with two children, 
could have known little enough of domestic enjoyment. 

It has been argued that if George Lom v , on the one 
hand, neglected his wife for other companions, her heart, 
on the other, was pre-occupied by a former attachment ; 
not to the young Prince Augustus of Wolfenbuttel, but 
to a still earlier associate, the playmate of her infancy, the 
handsome Swedish youth already named, Konigsmark. 
The fortunes of this individual, destined himself to figure 
so prominently in the tragical history of Sophia Dorothea, 
had up to this period led him into countries distant from 
the beautiful child, whom in early years he had regarded 
with boyish affection ; and, at a momentous epoch for the 



8 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Crown Princess, they met once more at the Court of 
Hanover — fatally, it might be said, for both. Not that 
Sophia Dorothea, by the worst of her enemies, could ever 
be accused of condescending to any renewal of an acquaint- 
ance which, under her altered circumstances, must have 
been regarded as criminal in the eyes of the world. But 
her conduct, if not criminal, is allowed to have been 
at least so far imprudent as to admit Konigsmark not 
unfrequently to her own private apartments, where they 
sometimes would sup together, and remain at table, or in 
conversation, till two or three o'clock in the morning. 
When Konigsmark retired, he descended by a little pri- 
vate staircase, near the great gate of the Ducal Palace, 
which conducted him into the town.* 

Imprudent as these visits were, and thoughtless as 
Sophia Dorothea appears to have been of what construc- 
tion might be put on them, they afforded but too ready a 
tool to the designing characters who surrounded the young 
and artless Crown Princess, fc> injure her in the opinion of 
her husband, if not in the eyes of the world. On one of 
these occasions, through the contrivance of the worthless 
Countess von Platen, the Elector Ernest Augustus was 
informed tha*c Konigsmark was in the chamber of his 
daughter-in-law ; and so exasperated was he at the manner 
in which the communication was made, that it is thought 
he himself sanctioned the act of violence by which the un- 
fortunate Konigsmark lost his life. He was slain by four 
men in masks, as he passed through an apartment adjoin- 
ing that in which he had left the not less unfortunate 
Princess. Konigsmark, indeed, perished on the spot, inno- 
cent, as it is generally believed, of more than imprudence 
towards that Eoyal lady. But Sophia Dorothea — what a 
* Wraxall. 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OP HANOVER. 9 

fate was in reserve for her ! Her present as well as future 
unfolded only to misery. 

Little more has to be said here of the mother of the 
Queen of Prussia. 

If what Wraxall states be true, that at the time of 
Ivonigsmark's death George Louis was in Hungary, he 
must be acquitted of all blame in the transaction of the 
death of Konigsmark; and the fact that his separation 
from his wife was consented to with reluctance, and at the 
desire of his father the Elector, is a proof of the esteem 
which he must still have internally felt for Sophia 
Dorothea. In December, 1694, a sentence of separation 
was pronounced between the Prince and Princess ; but no 
divorce, in the most extensive sense of the term, as totally 
dissolving the marriage between them and enabling each 
party to marry again, ever took place. Sophia Dorothea 
continued to reside at Ahlden till the death of her father- 
in-law, the Duke of Hanover, which happened in 1698 ; 
and from the time of her being first removed thither to 
the end of her life, she was commonly known under the 
name of '* Princess of Ahlden." 

George II. passed his youth under the care of his 
grandmother, Sophia of Hanover. His sister — but a year 
3^ounger than he was at the time the Act of Succession 
was passed, which opened a throne to her father — had 
attained her fifteenth year; in failure of her brother's 
heirs, the succession had been fixed in her person ; she 
too, had passed her childhood under the eye, not of a fond 
and loving mother, but of that learned and philosophic 
guardian, her grandmother Sophia. 

Toland describes the Princess Sophia Dorothea in these 
words: — "In minding her discourse to others, and by 
what she was pleased to say to myself, she appears to have 



10 TI1E EOYAL PEINCESSES. 

n more than ordinary share of good sense and wit. The 
whole town and Court commend the easiness of her man- 
ners and the evenness of her disposition; hut, ahove all 
her other qualities, they highly extol her good humour 
which is the most valuable endowment of either sex, and 
the foundation of most other virtues. Upon the whole, 
considering her personal merit and the dignity of her 
family, I heartily wish and hope to see her some day 
Queen of Sweden." Such, however, was not the destiny 
of Sophia Dorothea ! She became the wife of Frederic 
William, Crown Prince of Prussia, her cousin. 

The first King of Prussia was the husband of Sophia 
Charlotte, a sister of George I. On the foundation of this 
new kingdom the Royal pair were solemnly crowned, and 
the full details of the ceremony are given in the very 
interesting Memoirs of the Baron de Pollnitz. They are, 
however, irrelevant to our present purpose. Not so, 
however, can we esteem the testimony to the memory and 
virtues of that most excellent Princess, which certainly 
deserves a place among the Princesses of her family. It 
must never be forgotten that it was at the Court of Sophia 
Charlotte that Caroline of Anspach, Queen of George II., 
received her education, and there that she imbibed those 
tastes by which she became so eminently distinguished as 
the patroness of art and literature in England. 

The following very pleasing memorial of the talents and 
virtues of Sophia Charlotte, aunt of our heroine, and first 
Queen of Prussia, wife of Frederic I., is from the pen of 
the ever to be lamented Caroline Matilda, Queen of Den- 
mark, sister of our English monarch George IIP, a lady 
likewise distinguished for eminent literary endowments : — 

"Frederic I. founded an Academy at Berlin, at the 
earnest solicitation of Sophia Charlotte. Her Court was 



SOPHIA. DOROTHEA OF HANOVER. II 

a temple where was preserved the sacred fire of the vestals, 
the asylum of arts and sciences, and the seat of elegance, 
taste, and politeness. That Princess had the genius of a 
great man, and the knowledge of the most learned ; she 
thought it was not below the dignity of a Queen to honour 
a philosopher. This was Leibnitz ; and as those who 
have received from heaven privileged souls, raise themselves 
on the level with Sovereigns, she admitted Leibnitz to her 
conversation with that freedom which characterizes true 
merit and discernment. She proposed him as the only 
man capable to lay the foundation of her new Academy. 
Leibnitz, who had more than one soul, if I may be 
allowed to use the expression, was worthy of being the 
first president of a society which he might have repre- 
sented alone. 

" All the learned in Europe mourned at her death. 
This celebrated Princess joined to all the exterior accom. 
plishments and the most endearing charms, the graces of 
the mind and the most superior understanding. She had 
travelled in her youth in France and Italy with her august 
parents. She was destined for the throne of Prance: 
Louis XIV. was struck with her beauty, but political rea- 
sons prevented this marriage. She brought into Prussia 
the spirit of society, true politeness, and the love of the 
Pine Arts. She seated upon her throne the Muses ; and 
her curiosity was such in philosophical inquiries, that she 
aspired to know the principles of things. Leibnitz, whom 
she pressed one day upon that subject, said to her Ma- 
jesty— ' Madam, it is not in my power to give a satisfac- 
tory answer to your sublime questions ; you want to know 
what no mortal is capable to explain.' 

" Charlottenburg was the rendezvous of men of exquisite 
taste and literature ; all sorts of feasts and entertainments, 



12 THE HOYAL PRINCESSES. 

diversified with that splendour and magnificence which 
stamped all her public diversions, made this abode delight- 
ful, and her Court more brilliant than any in Europe." 

As Charlottenburg, where the present King of Prussia 
is now residing, is peculiarly connected with the sister 
of George I., some notice of it merits to be given here. 
Baron Pollnitz, in his Memoirs, says, "Charlottenburg 
was formerly called Lutzenbourg. It was a small village 
belonging to M. Doberginsky, steward of the household 
to the Queen* (the King's mother). He had built a 
trilling house there, and the Queen taking the air there 
one day, liked the situation of the place so well, that she 
bought it, and set about building there ; but she died be- 
fore all the works she had undertaken were finished. How- 
ever her husband, King Frederic I., caused them to be 
carried on, and made considerable additions to them ; and, 
in order to perpetuate the Queen's name, which was 
Sophia Charlotte, he caused Lutzenbourg to be called 
Charlottenburg." The same author describes the Castle 
as one of the most considerable structures in Germany, 
the apartments of which are grand and splendid, and the 
furniture very rich. In it is a cabinet of the choicest 
porcelain, ranged in a most surprising manner; another 
cabinet containing lustres, a tea-table, with dishes, a 
coffee-pot and the whole equipage, of solid gold. The 
Chapel is most superb, and every side of it adorned with 
gold and painting. The orangery is one of the most 
magnificent in Europe, not only for the beauty and num- 
ber of its trees, but the size of the building in which they 
are kept during the winter. 

" Sophia Charlotte (continues her Royal biographer) 
had a magnanimous soul ; her religion was pure and free 
* Mother of Frederic William I. 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HANOVEK. 13 

from prejudices and bigotry, the vices of little minds. 
Her mind was ornamented with the knowledge of the best 
French and Italian books. She died at Hanover in the 
bosom of her family. A Lutheran minister having been 
introduced into her apartment in her last moments, ' Let 
me die in peace,' said she, ' without controversy.' One of 
her ladies of honour, whom she tenderly loved, was bathed 
in tears ; ' Do not grieve for me,' said she ; ' I shall satisfy 
my curiosity on the principles of things which Leibnitz 
could never explain to me — on the space, the infinite, our 
being, and the consequences of our dissolution ; and as 
the King, my husband, is fond of pageantry and empty 
shows, I prepare for him the pomp of my solemn funeral.' 
She recommended in dying the learned, to whom she had 
granted a generous protection, and the arts, which she had 
cultivated, to the Elector, her brother. Frederic I. made 
sumptuous obsequies, and found in that ceremony a con- 
solation for the loss of a consort whom he could never re- 
gret enough." 

The death of Sophia Charlotte occurred in 1705. In 1706 
the marriage of the Crown Prince to Sophia Dorothea, her 
niece, took place. The object of Frederic William at so 
early an age entering into those ties was, that the elder 
line of the Royal family might be continued as soon as 
possible, his father's half-brothers being the sole represen- 
tatives of the younger. 

The sister of Charles XII. of Sweden, a Princess of 
Saxe Zeitz, or a Princess of Orange, who was niece of the 
Prince of Anhalt, were offered by the King to the Crown 
Prince as suitable matches ; the regard Frederic William 
had ever testified for the Prince of Anhalt, made him sup- 
pose the Prince's choice would fall on the last ; but the 
charms of the Princess of Hanover had captivated his 

c 



11= THE EOYAL PRINCESSES, 

fancy, and lie not only declined his father's propositions, 
but by intrigues and entreaties persuaded him to consent 
to his union with Sophia Dorothea. The Prince of Anhalt 
never forgave the Princess Eoyal for having had the pre- 
ference. To prevent her obtaining the heart of her con- 
sort he sowed seeds of disunion between them. Aware of 
the Prince's inclination to jealousy, he excited him to be 
jealous of his wife, who had to endure the most cruel tor- 
ments from his violent temper ; and in spite of the proofs 
she gave him of her virtue, nothing but patience could 
cure him of the unjust prejudices he had imbibed against 
her. 

The Prince Royal's marriage was concluded at Hanover, 
in a journey the King made thither with the Prince, his 
son, who had long entertained for Sophia Dorothea all 
the veneration which exalted merit was capable of in- 
spiring. A contemporary writer* says : " Of all the 
Princesses in the world she was likely to be the most ac- 
ceptable to her subjects ; she represented to us the idea of 
the late Queen,t and as she was her niece, and designed to 
succeed to her dominions, she seemed also to have in- 
herited all the great qualities that made the former adored 
at our Court. The Electoral Prince of Hanover married 
her at Hanover by proxy, in presence of the Count do 
Finck, the King's Ambassador." At the time the event 
took place, Sophia Dorothea's mother was still pining in 
her solitary captivity, but the circumstance seems to have 
been unheeded by the joyous party assembled on the 
happy occasion; at least, if remembered at all, might it not 
have been present at the heart of the bride herself, who 
seems on this occasion to have resembled another Princess 
of her Eoyal family in later times, the much-lamented 
* Baron de Pollnitz. f Sophia Charlotte. 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HA^OYES. 15 

Charlotte Augusta of Wales, who was similarly situated 
when she gave away her hand to the Prince of Saxe 
Cohourg ? Taking it altogether, the wedding might be 
truly called a joyful one, and was performed with all pos- 
sible splendour, attended with the usual pomp and mirth 
which accompany such events, although there was no de- 
ficiency of sympathy in the fair bride for the mother 
whom she remembered to have watched over her infant 
years, and for whom, in subsequent periods of her own life, 
she felt much more keenly still. Three Englishmen of 
note were present at the Royal wedding — Lord Halifax, 
Sir John Vanbrugh, and Joseph Addison, a circumstance 
not uninteresting in itself. 

Some days after, the Princess departed from Hanover 
with a train becoming her present and her future dignity. 
The Elector, her father, had given her the most magnifi- 
cent suits of apparel and jewels that could be got for 
money, and thej- were purchased at Paris by a man sent 
on purpose. The Duchess of Orleans was desirous to 
choose and give directions for the clothes, and she after- 
wards showed them to Louis XIV., who thought them so 
rich that he said it were to be wished, for the sake of the 
mercers of Paris, that there were more Princesses that 
could afford to make such purchases. 

The bride repaired with her husband to Brussels imme- 
diately after her marriage, with the hope that Queen Anne 
would invite them over to England ; but, contrary to their 
expectation, the Queen took no notice whatever of the 
circumstance. 

Sophia Dorothea made her public entry into Berlin on 
November 27th, 1706. " The King met her about half a 
league out of the town. As soon as her Eoyal Highness 
perceived the King's coach she alighted, as the King did 



10 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

also from his, and went to meet her. After having em- 
braced the Princess, he presented the Prince Royal to 
her, together with his brothers and the two princesses. 
Then the King took coach again, where the Princess placed 
herself on the King's left hand, and the two Margraves 
sat over against them ; the Prince Royal and the King's 
three brothers being mounted on horseback. The entry 
was one of the most magnificent that was ever seen. All 
the troops then at Berlin were under arms, as well as all 
the city militia, and drawn up in a line from the out parts 
of the town, quite to the palace. The next day after the 
Princess's arrival there was a sumptuous feast, at which 
the Prince Royal and the Princess had arm-chairs, but for 
that day only ; for the next day their Royal Highnesses 
sat in upright chairs at the two ends of the table. 

" Our Court was then as splendid as in the time of the 
late Queen. There was a continual round of pleasures, 
and every day was remarkable for feasts, balls, comedies, 
&c." It was upon this occasion of the Princess Royal's 
arrival, that an interlude was acted at the Theatre of 
Berlin entitled " Beauty triumphing over Heroes," at 
which the Margraves Frederic Albert and Christian Lewis 
the King's brothers, danced, with all the young courtiers. 

Frederiea Sophia Wilhelmina, Princess Royal of Prussia, 
was born in 1709. Baron de Pollnitz, in his memoirs, 
writes — " I was at Berlin at the ceremony of her baptism, 
which was performed in the chapel of the castle, in 
presence of Frederic IV. King of Denmark, Frederic 
Augustus King of Poland, and Frederic I. King of 
Prussia. The birth of this Princess, and the circum- 
stance of three Kings and a Queen attending at her bap- 
tism, gave occasion to a great many copies of verses. All 
the poets said that the presence of these three Kings was 



SOPHIA DOHOTHEA OF HANOVER. 17 

a sign that she would one day have possession of three 
crowns. They had then in view the crowns of Great 
Britain, that were to devolve to the family of Hanover; 
in which there was a young Prince who, it was then 
imagined, was to he in time the husband of this Princess. 
Whether this match will ever take place, and whether the 
Princess will be Queen, I can't say ; but if she is not, 
Fortune will not do justice to her merit." 

The young Prince alluded to was Frederic, afterwards 
known as Prince of Wales, eldest son of George II., 
King of England. All Europe, as well as the poets of 
that time, expected the match would take place. Both 
the Queens of Prussia and England (Caroline of Anspach) 
desired it. The young Princess herself was brought up 
in that expectation ; but when it was least of all antici- 
pated, certain reasons of State cancelled all these views, 
and the King of Prussia thought fit to marry his 
daughter, in 1731, to the Hereditary Prince of Branden- 
burg Bareith. # 

Sophia Dorothea, though again pregnant, followed the 
King her husband in his expedition against the Swedes. 
This campaign ended gloriously to Prussia, great part of 
Swedish Pomerania being taken. 

On the return of the Queen she was charmed with the 
improvement in her young daughter, on whom she be- 
stowed the tenderest caresses. This beloved child, not 
long after, had a severe illness. On her recovery, the 
Queen strove to avail herself of the prodigious facility 
in learning of her daughter, who says in her Memoirs, — 
" She gave me several masters ; among others, the 
famous La Croze, who has been celebrated for his histo- 
rical knowledge, and his profound acquaintance with the 
* Pollnitz's " Memoirs." 



18 THE EOXAL PUINCESSES. 

languages of the East, and with sacred and profane anti- 
quities. My whole day was taken up with teachers, who 
succeeded each other, and left me very little time for 
ray recreations." 

The Baron de Pollnitz writes from Berlin : — " Not 
many days after my arrival here, the King having gone to 
visit his kingdom, I had the honour of waiting on the 
Queen. This Princess, whose name is Sophia Dorothea, 
is sister to the present King of Great Britain,* being the 
daughter of George I., the late King, and of Sophia 
Dorothea, Princess of Brunswick Zell; and she does 
everything that is worthy of her august extraction ; for 
surely never did daughter more resemble a father : she 
has the same benignity and wisdom, the same equity and 
justice, and sweetness of temper. Like him, she knows 
the charms of a private life and friendship on a throne ; 
like him, she is adored by her subjects and her domestics, 
and is the chief blessing and darling of both. To ex- 
tend goodness and affability farther were impossible ; 
there being no foreigners but what are charmed with the 
gracious manner in which the Princess receives them. To 
a thousand virtues worthy of veneration she has added 
the singular talent of speaking the languages of several 
countries which she never saw with as much delicacy as 
if they had been her mother tongues. The French 
language, especially, is so familiar to her, that one would 
take her to be a Princess of the Royal family of France ; 
and the grandeur and majesty that accompany all her 
actions induce those who don't know her to be of opinion 
that she was born to reign. 

"That which still more endears this Queen to her 
people is, the care she takes of the education of her 
* George II. 



SOPHIA DOEOTHEA OP HANOVEE. 19 

family, whicli consists of four Princes and six Princesses. 
The eldest of the sons is styled the Prince Eoyal. This 
young Prince is handsome, charms every one by his kind- 
ness and good nature, and loves reading, music, the arts, 
and magnificence. His sentiments, his behaviour, and his 
actions, make it probable, that if he comes to the crown, 
his reign will be one of those mild and peaceable reigns 
which procure kings that love of their people wherein con- 
sists their true glory. The care of the Prince Royal's 
education was committed first of all to Madame de Kamke, 
one of the Queen's Ladies of Honour, and governess of 
the children of Prussia. But this lady left the charge of 
the latter to the sub-governess, Madame de Rocoule, and 
her daughter, Mademoiselle de Monthaii. Madame de* 
Rocoule had also the honour to be sub-governess to the 
King, so that she was no novice in the forming of 
young Princes. As she talks nothing but French, she 
has taught it to the King's children, who speak it with as 
much ease as they do the German language. At seven 
years of age the Prince Royal was taken out of the hands 
of the women, and the Count de Fincks, of Fruchenstein, 
Lieutenant-General of the King's forces, a knight of his 
order, and colonel of a regiment of horse, was appointed 
his Royal Highness's governor ; and the Baron de Kales- 
tein was made sub-governor. The King's choice of both 
these gentlemen was universally applauded. # The Queen 
influenced her son in forming a taste entirely opposed to 
all he saw about him, rather tending to literature than 
arms. 

" Sophia Dorothea had never adopted the tastes and 
views of her husband; the simple, straitened household, 
denuded of all the ornament and enjoyment of life, did 
* Baron de Pollnitz. 



20 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

not satisfy her ; she blamed many of the King's projects, 
and suffered her two elder children to do the same ; she 
directed their attention to countries where life afforded 
more enjoyment ; she loved and encouraged learning. 
Under such influences, with such a thirst after mental 
culture, the young Prince began to regard the strict and 
narrow military life to which he was condemned as a sort 
of pedantry, and to conceive a disgust at reviews and 
parades. He thought that a taste for intellectual plea- 
sures, such as are afforded by music, the theatre, and 
agreeable society, was not less becoming in a Prince. It 
was, therefore, a great event in his life when, in February, 
172S, he was allowed to visit the Court of Dresden. " # 

" The superiority of Dresden in the cultivation of music 
formed a permanent bond of union between the two 
Courts. The Crown Prince and his elder sister, as we are 
told by their mother, cherished a passion for music. At 
the request of the Queen, who spoke to the ambassador, 
Augustus II. had the courtesy to permit his musicians, 
Quanz and Weiss, to make a considerable stay at Berlin 
from time to time, though he would not give up their 
services, altogether. Weiss gave lessons to the Princess 
on the lute, while Quanz taught the flute to the Prince. 
The exquisite skill with which the inventive master first 
constructed, and then used that instrument, is well known. 
This accomplishment was a source of endless pleasure to 
Frederic during the whole of his life. At that time he 
thought himself happy if, after parade and dinner, he 
could throw aside his uniform, put on his brocade dressing- 
gown, and occupy himself with books and music. But 
such pursuits were in direct opposition to the wishes and 
views cherished by his father, and to the whole turn of 
* Eanke's " Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg." 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HAXOTER. 21 

bis mind ; and Frederic soon began to experience his dis- 
pleasure. At a later period, after his accession to the 
throne permitted him to follow the bent of his own inclina- 
tion, it was his custom in the evening to take part in a 
little concert ; he played the flute, as some Saxon musi- 
cians have told us, almost too well — better than became a 
King. Leave to ' be present at these concerts was granted 
as a very great favour." 

Let us hear what the Queen (Sophia Dorothea), says 
Sulm, announces on the 30th of July, that she had thanked 
the King of Poland for his kindness, " en luy envoyant des 
gens de sa musique, et en lui permettant cle les garder 
quelque terns." She then adds, " Yous savez la passion de 
mes enfans pour la musique, ils m'ont engage a augmenter 
le nombre de mes musiciens, il me manque un homme 
corn me Quanz ; pourrois-je esperer que le Roi, qui a un si 
grand nombre d'habiles gens voulut me ceder celui-la, je 
lui en aurois bien de robligation." More especially the 
Crown Prince, " qui apprend a jouer la flute traversiere 
avec un succes etonnant," wished for Quanz, who had 
already arrived (6th August). Shortly afterwards the 
Queen thanks the King of Poland for allowing four of his 
best musicians to remain so long : — " Qu'elle ne serviroit 
de la liberte que vous me lui donne de faire venir de terns 
en terns Quanz." # 

The Margravine of Bareith in her Memoirs thus de- 
scribes her mother : — " The Queen never was handsome. 
Her features are strongly marked, and some of them fine. 
Her complexion is pale ; her hair a dark brown ; her shape 
has been one of the handsomest in the world ; her noble 
and majestic gait inspires all who behold her with respect ; 
a perfect acquaintance with the world and a brilliant un- 
* Ranke. 



22 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

derstanding, seem to promise more solidity than she is 
seed of. Her heart is benevolent, generous, and kind ; 
she cherishes the arts and sciences without having ever 
devoted much time to the study of them. No one is with- 
out faults ; the Queen has hers. All the pride and 
haughtiness of the House of Hanover are concentrated in 
her person. Her ambition is unbounded ; she is exces- 
sively' jealous, of a suspicious and vindictive temper, and 
never forgives those by whom she fancies she has been 
offended. 

" The alliance which she had projected with England 
through the marriage of her children was the most ardent 
wish of her heart, and she flattered herself she should 
gradually succeed in governing the King. Her second ob- 
ject was to secure a strong protection against the persecu- 
tions of the Prince of Anhalt, and, lastly, to obtain the 
guardianship of my brother in case of the King's decease. 
The King was subject to frequent diseases, and the Queen 
had been told he would not live long." 

The Princess of Prussia had given birth to a son in 1707, 
who only lived to the age of twelve months. On the 3rd 
of July, 1709, a daughter was born, much to the annoyance 
of all those who longed for male issue. This was the 
afterwards celebrated Marchioness of Bareith : she was 
christened Frederiea Sophia Wilhelmina, and a great 
favourite with her grandfather, the old King. Again the 
Princess Eoyal had a son, who did not live ; but on the 
21th of February, 1712, a third Prince saw the light, and 
on him was bestowed the name of Frederic. He was 
known afterwards as " the Great." 

Mademoiselle Letti, companion of Madame Kilmanseck, 
was appointed governess to the little daughter of the 
Princess Eoyal, who had become much charmed with her. 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HA1S T 0VEE. 23 

The Prince Eoyal had attended the Princess to Hanover, 
and the Electoral Princess (Caroline of Anspach) having 
a son born in 1707, whose age agreed with that of the 
little daughter of Sophia Dorothea, they agreed to unite 
them hereafter in marriage. The Princess of Bareith, in 
her Memoirs, writes — " My little admirer began, even at 
that time, to send me presents, and no post-day passed 
without these Princesses corresponding about the future 
union of their children." " Her Majesty brought the 
bridal rings to me (says her daughter) ; I even opened a 
correspondence with my little admirer, and received several 
presents of him." 

Frederic I. married the Princess of Mecklenburg after- 
wards,* which circumstance caused great changes at Court. 
Among other new arrangements made, the Princess Eoyal 
kept her Court at her own lodgings twice a week, viz., on 
those days when there was no circle at the Queen's ; for 
upon the drawing-room days she went to her Majesty's 
apartment, as did most of the Princesses, and they stayed 
there to sup. 

The death of Frederic, the Great Elector, was singular. 
His third wife, during an illness, was subject to sudden 
attacks of frenzy, arising from her (disorder; in one of 
these she escaped from her attendants into the King's 
presence, smashing a glass door through which she entered 
his chamber, and addressing him in the most violent 
language. As she was clad in white, and her face 
streaming from the wounds of the broken glass, the King, 
in waking from sleep, took her for a ghost, and no less a 
one than the "White Woman," said to appear always in 
the Palace of the Princes of Brandenburg prior to the 
death of any one of the family. The circumstance threw 
* M. de Pollnitz. 



24 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

him into a fever, from which he never recovered, though, 
indeed, he lingered full six weeks after.* After his death, 
the Queen returned to her former home, in Mecklenburg, 
for the advantage of her health. 

As the King felt the approaches of death, he took an 
affectionate leave of the Prince and Princess Royal, and 
afterwards sent for both his grandchildren at eight o'clock 
in the evening, to whom he gave his blessing. 

To Frederic I. succeeded his son Frederic William, 
the most harsh and unamiable of Princes, whose principal 
felicity seemed to consist in forming and disciplining a 
grand regiment of guards, the wonder and the ridicule of 
foreign nations. Parsimonious in every other article of 
pleasure or expense, he retained about him no trace of his 
father's splendour. 

The Court of Berlin, to which there was a great influx 
of strangers, consisted chiefly of military. The Queen 
held a drawing-room every evening during the absence of 
the King, who was generally at Potsdam, a small town at 
the distance of four German miles from Berlin. There he 
lived more as a private gentleman than as a King. His 
table was served with frugality ; it never exceeded neces- 
saries. Frederic William was terrible in his anger, in- 
flexible in his prejudices, and inexorable in his resentment ; 
he punished the transgressions of his children with un- 
exampled severity. So strictly did he avoid unnecessary 
ostentation, that he addressed his family by the terms of 
"my son," "my wife," "the country," not choosing to 
adopt those of " our well-beloved son, the Electoral Prince," 
" our dearly beloved consort," or "magnificent land," as 
his father had done. 

It is asserted by an author of celebrity, that Frederic 
* M. de Pollnitz. 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HANOYEE. 2o 

did not possess " the gentler virtues which adorn and bless 
domestic life." Some one was once, later in her life, 
speaking to this Queen, " with admiration of the excellent 
qualities of heart and mind displayed by her cousin, the 
Empress of Austria ; # she readily admitted her own infe- 
riority; but, she added, that it had been much easier for 
the Empress to improve the gifts she had received from 
nature, than for her ; on her cousin the world had smiled, 
whereas she had passed her life in never-ceasing disquiet. "f 

Formed to be the charm and grace of an amiable and 
polished circle, she was consigned to the arms of a savage, 
who, totally insensible to her fascinations, and incapable 
of appreciating her fine qualities, treated her so unjustly, 
that it may with truth be said, there was scarcely a 
greater slave in Prussia than its Queen. 

" Never," says Voltaire, "were subjects poorer, or king 
more rich." According to that author (whose statements, 
however, must be taken cum grano sails), he bought up 
the estates of his nobility at a despicable price ; farmed 
out his lands to tax-gatherers, each of whom held the double 
post of collector and judge ; so that if a tenant did not 
pay his rent on the clay it became due, the collector put on 
his judicial robes, and condemned the defaulter in double 
the debt ; and if the collector and judge did not pay the 
King his arrears in full, on the last day of the month, the 
following morning his Majesty mulcted him in the same 
ratio as he had mulcted the landholder. The King had 
an ambassador at the Hague, who, having cut down and 
used for fuel some of the trees in the garden of Houslar- 
dick. which then belonged to the Royal House of Prussia, 
his Most Gracious Sovereign, as he was informed by his 

* Maria Theresa. 

f Ranke's "Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg." 



2(l THE KOYAL PRINCESSES. 

next despatches, stopped his year's salary to defray the 
damage. The poor ambassador, in a fit of despair, cut his 
throat with the only razor he had ; but his life was saved 
by an old valet who came to his assistance. 

" The King had a hundred and twenty millions of crowns 
in the cellars of his palace ; his apartments were filled with 
articles of massive silver ; and he gave to his Queen — in 
charge only, be it observed — a cabinet, the contents of 
which were all gold." 

When he took his walk through the town, after having 
reviewed his regiment of Guards, many of whom were seven 
feet high, everybody fled at his approach. If he met a 
woman in the street he would tell her to begone home, 
and at the same time give her a kick, a box on the ear, or 
a few strokes on the shoulders with his cane. His son, 
wearied with his brutality, determined to quit the country ; 
but parental economy had deprived him of the means of 
travelling, even as the son of an English tradesman ; and 
he was obliged to borrow a few hundred ducats for his in- 
tended journey. Two young men, one named Katt, and 
the other Keit, were to have accompanied him, but the 
King obtained information of the project, and arrested the 
trio. Keit afterwards escaped; but Katt was executed, 
and the Prince's head held out of a window by some grena- 
diers, at his father's command, in order that he might be 
obliged to behold the melancholy spectacle. On another 
occasion, the King ordered the daughter of a schoolmaster, 
for whom his son had affected a passion, to be conducted 
round Potsdam, where she resided, by the common hang- 
man, and then whipped in the Prince's presence. After 
having regaled him with this spectacle, he sent him to a 
citadel in the midst of a marsh, where he kept him for 
six months in a sort of dungeon, without a single servant $ 



SOPHIA DOKOTHEA OF HAKOVER. 27 

and then graciously permitted him to have a soldier for 
an attendant. 

Suspecting that his daughter "Wilh.elm.ina was concerned 
in the Prince's intended elopement, he proceeded to kick 
her out of a lar^e window which reached from the ceiling 
to the floor ; and her mother (the subject of our present 
memoir), who was present at this achievement, with great 
difficulty saved her by catching hold of her garments. 
"The Princess," continues Voltaire, "received a contusion of 
her left breast, which mark of her father's affection she 
preserved through life, and did me the honour of permitting 
me to see it." 

It is impossible to dwell upon the many scenes of do- 
mestic discord which darkened the existence of Sophia 
Dorothea of Hanover. The conduct of Frederic William, 
towards her was brutal in the extreme, bordering, indeed, 
on insanity. He took from her the guardianship of her 
young family ; and, though immensely rich, provided her 
so ill with the requisites of life, that but for a revenue of 
SOOZ. allowed her by her brother, the King of England, 
she would have been destitute of the commonest necessa- 
ries. To say that such a man was universally disliked by 
his people must be sufficient here, without entering into 
the many details given of the various methods he took of 
exasperating them, of which the above was one instance 
only. His wife and children had on more than one occa- 
sion nearly fallen victims to his extravagant conduct. 
On one occasion the high-spirited and noble Frederic 
fled from his persecutions, and had almost lost his life 
through it ; as it was, he was consigned to a prison, and 
lost his friend. 

The poor Queen, under so many indignities, was driven 
to stoop to many a meanness, not from principle, but ne- 



28 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES, 

cessiiy. She made her daughter, young as she wa«, a sort 
of confidante, and employed her as a spy on her own 
father ; obtained the aid of those who surrounded her, 
and who received money from her only to betray. The 
Memoirs of the Marchioness of Bareith afford a pic- 
ture too painful to be dwelt on, of all the domestic broils 
of the married life of Sophia Dorothea. They are like 
the scenes in which Lord Hervey's pen depicts the Prin- 
cesses Amelia and Caroline at a later date to have figured 
in England, neither instructive nor amusing, and therefore 
will be purposely omitted here. 

It was the happiness of Sophia Dorothea to survive 
this ill-suited husband for a woman of refined taste and 
intellect, and to enjoy in after-life a tranquillity she had 
been for so many years deprived of. She exhibited much 
virtue in her latter days ; an evidence that her apparent 
faults had been, in the lifetime of her husband, attribut- 
able rather to his ill usage than her own disposition. 

On the occasion of the King becoming ill at Branden- 
burg, he requested, by an express, the Queen to join him. 
Sophia Dorothea set out directly, and arrived at Branden- 
burg in the evening. She found the King extremely ill, and 
busy making his will, as he thought his death very near. 

" The Queen (says her daughter) was appointed 

Eegent of the kingdom during the minority of my brother, 
and the Emperor and the King of England were named 
his guardians. No mention was made of either Grumkow 
or the Princess Anhalt. Before their arrival the will was 
signed, and as the King had omitted to name them in it, 
he expected their reproaches ; to avoid which, he imposed 
a solemn promise of secresy, as to the contents, on those 
who had attested it, viz., the Queen and witnesses. One 
copy of it had been handed to the Queen, and the original 



SOPHIA. DOKOTHEA OF HANOVEB. 29 

deposited in the archives of Berlin. On the King's reco- 
very, the Queen followed him to Wusterhausen." 

Grumkow, the Prussian Minister, perceiving the Queen 
had influence over her hushand, and that this was on the 
increase, determined to injure her in his opinion — a design 
imparted hy him to M. de Kamken, the Minister of State, 
who, too honest to be a party to such an attempt, revealed 
it to the Queen. 

Grumkow had found out that Sophia Dorothea was 
given to play, and having had great losses, had been forced 
to borrow secretly a capital of 30,000 dollars (50007. 
sterling). The King had recently presented her with 
a pair of brooched diamond ear-rings, of very great value. 
She wore them but rarely, because she had often dropped 
them. Grumkow, imagining the Queenhad pawned these ear- 
rings to procure the large sum she needed, resolved to inform 
the King, who, he felt sure, from his love of money, would 
be highly incensed. He was, however, forewarned by the 
Queen, who would have punished Grumkow for his base 
attempt, but the King had not the proof of his guilt ; on 
which she named M. de Kamken. That gentleman at- 
tested what she had stated ; but Grumkow's denial had 
more force, and thus, through the imprudence of his 
Royal mistress, Kamken was sent to the fortress of 
Spandau. 

In 1712 Sophia Dorothea became Queen of Prussia. 
In 1714 her grandmother, the Electress of Hanover, died, 
and in the same year,* shortly after her, Queen Anne, on 
which George Louis became King of England. His wife, 
meanwhile, remained incarcerated in her lonely residence 
at Ahlden. 

Mr. Wraxall says that he waited upon the Queen at 

* August 1st, 1714. 
D 



30 THE HOYAL TPvI^CESSES. 

Berlin, and that she had then just received the tidings of 
her father, the Elector of Hanover, being called over to 
England, in consequence of the death of Queen Anne. 
The King of Prussia made an offer to the new monarch 
of any assistance he might have occasion for, to support 
him on his throne. Some days after the arrival of this 
great news the writer took leave of the Queen, and set 
off for Hamburg. 

" In the suburb of Spandau," says M. de Pollnitz, 
"the Queen has a delightful house and gardens. The 
house is called Men Bijou ; a very proper name for it, be- 
cause 'tis really a jewel. 'Tis a pavilion, the apartments 
of which are laid out with art, and furnished with great 
judgment and elegance. The gardens are charming, and 
are finely open to the river. This house was built by the 
Countess de Wartemberg, wife to the Prime Minister of 
King Frederic I. As her husband's power and favour were 
at that time so great that he did whatever he pleased, all 
the King's workmen and architects used the utmost dili- 
gence to serve her well. But she did not enjoy this fine 
house long ; for it was scarce completed when the King 
removed the Count from all his employments, and banished 
him to Frankfort-on-the-Maine. However, he settled a 
pension upon him and his lady of 24,000 crowns ; and the 
Countess, by way of acknowledgment, gave the King this 
house, which, of all the immense treasure that she has 
amassed, was the only piece which she could not carry 
with her. The King gave this house to the Princess 
Eoyal, now Queen, who has added great embellishment* 
to it, and brought it to its present state of perfection." 

It would not do to omit the account of the visit of the 
Czar, Peter the Great, to Berlin, who, not liking society 
and show, took it into his head to request the King would 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HAISTOYEE. 31 

lodge him on this occasion in the Queen's summer-housq 
in one of the suburbs of Berlin. "Her Majesty was ex- 
tremely sorry for this: she had erected a very pretty 
building, which she had decorated in a style of great 
splendour. The porcelain gallery was superb, and all the 
rooms were adorned with beautiful glasses. As this 
charming retreat was really a jewel, it was called Mon 
Bijou. A very pretty garden on the banks of the river 
heightened its beauty. In order to prevent the mischief 
which the Russian gentlemen had done in other places 
where they had lodged, the Queen ordered the prin- 
cipal furniture, and whatever was most brittle, to be re- 
moved. The Czar, his spouse, and their Court, arrived 
some days after, by water, at Mon Bijou. The King and 
Queen received them on their landing, and the King 
handed the Czarina from the boat. The Czar was no 
sooner landed, than he held out his hand to the King, 
and said, ' I am glad to see you, brother Frederic. 9 
He afterwards approached the Queen with the intention 
to salute her, but she pushed him back. The Czarina 
first kissed the Queen's hands several times, and after- 
wards introduced to her the Duke and Duchess of Meck- 
lenburg, who had accompanied them, and four hundred, 
pretended ladies of their suite. These were mostly Ger- 
man servant-girls, who officiated as maids of honour, 
waiting-maids, cooks, and washerwomen. Almost every 
one of these creatures carried in her arms a richly-dressed 
infant, and when they were asked whether these children 
were their own ? they answered, prostrating themselves in 
the Russian fashion : ' the Czar has done me the honour 
to make me the mother of this child? The Queen would 
not speak to these creatures, and the Czarina, to be re- 
venged, treated the Princesses of the blood with much 



32 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

haughtiness ; and it was with very great difficulty that 
the King prevailed with the Queen to notice the Russian 
ladies. I saw the whole of this Court the next day, when 
the Czar and Czarina came to visit the Queen. Her Ma- 
jesty received them in the State Rooms of the Palace, 
and went to meet them in the Hall of the Guards. The 
Queen gave her hand to the Czarina, placing her at her 
right, and conducted her into the Audience Halh 

" The King and the Czar followed. As soon as the latter 
saw me he knew me again, having seen me five years be- 
fore. He took me up in his arms, and rubbed the very 
skin off my face with his rude kisses.^ I boxed his ears, 
and struggled as much as I could, saying that I would not 
allow any such familiarities, and that he was dishonour- 
ing me. He laughed very much at this idea, and amused 
himself a long time at my expense. I had previously 
been instructed what to say, and I spoke to him of his 
fleet and his conquests ; which delighted him so much 
that he several times told the Czarina, that if he could 
have a child like me he would willingly give up one of 
his provinces. The Czarina also tenderly caressed me. 
She and the Queen placed themselves under the canopy, 
each in an armchair ; I was by the side of the Queen, and 
the Princesses of the blood opposite to her Majesty. 

" The Czarina was short and stout, very tawny, and her 
figure was altogether destitute of gracefulness. Its ap- 
pearance sufficiently betrayed her low origin. To have 
judged by her attire one would have taken her for a Ger- 
man stage actress. Her robe had been purchased of an 
old clothes broker ; it was made in the antique fashion, 
and heavily laden with silver and grease. The front of 
her stays was adorned with jewels, singularly placed ; they 
* The Princess was at this time eleven years old. 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HAKOVEB. 33 

represented a double eagle, badly set, the wings of which 
were of small stones. She wore a dozen orders, and as 
many portraits of saints and relics, fastened to the facing 
of her gown ; so that when she walked, the jumbling of all 
these orders and portraits, one against the other, made a 
tinkling noise like a mule in harness. 

" The Czar, on the contrary, was very tall, and pretty 
well made ; his face was handsome, but his countenance 
had something savage about it which inspired fear. He 
was dressed as a navy officer, and wore a plain coat. The 
Czarina, who spoke very bad German, and did not well 
understand what was spoken to her by the Queen, beckoned 
to her fool, and conversed with her in Russian. This poor 
creature was a Princess G-alitzin, who had been necessi- 
tated to fill that office in order to save her life ; having 
been implicated in a conspiracy against the Czar, she had 
twice undergone the punishment of the knout. I do not 
know what she said to the Czarina, but the latter every 
now and then laughed aloud. 

" At length we sat down to table, when the Czar placed 
himself near the Queen. It is well known that this 
Prince had been poisoned in his youth ; a very subtile 
venom had attacked his nerves, whence he was frequently 
subject to certain involuntary convulsions. He was seized 
with a fit whilst at table ; he made many contortions ; 
and as he was violently gesticulating with a knife in his 
hand near the Queen, the latter was afraid, and wanted 
several times to rise from her seat. The Czar begged her 
to be easy, protesting that he would not do her any harm ; 
and at the same time seized her hand, which he squeezed 
so violently that the Queen screamed for mercy, which 
made him laugh heartily ; and he observed that the bones 
of her Majesty were more delicate than those of his Cathe- 



S-i THE ROYAL PEINCESSES. 

rine. Everything was prepared for a ball after supper » 
but lie ran away as soon as he rose from table, and went 
back alone and on foot to Mon Bijou. 

" The next day everything worth seeing at Berlin was 
shown to him, and among the rest the cabinet of medals 
and antique statues. The Czar took a fancy to several, 
and without ceremony asked for them, which the King 
could not refuse. He did the same with a cabinet lined 
with amber, which was unique in its kind, and had cost 
immense sums to Frederick I. ; and this, too, had the mis- 
fortune to be taken to Petersburg, to the great regret of 
every one. 

" Two days afterwards this Court of barbarians set out 
on their journey back. The Queen immediately hastened 
to Mon Bijou, and what desolation was there visible ! I 
never beheld anything like it ; indeed, I think Jerusalem, 
after its siege and capture, could not have presented such 
another scene. This elegant Palace was left by them in 
so ruinous a state, that the Queen was absolutely obliged 
to rebuild nearly the whole of it." # 

After Ernest Augustus died, George Louis sought a 
reconciliation with his wife, and again, after his elevation 
to the Crown of England. But though a deputation of 
English peers and gentlemen waited on the prisoner of 
Ahlden, requesting to approach her as their Queen, she 
rejected their dazzling overture, and declined the regal 
diadem. Her just remark was — "If I am guilty of the 
crime imputed to me, I am unworthy to be your Queen. 
If I am innocent, the King is unworthy to be my 
husband." She continued to be treated with the respect 
due to her rank. The two ladies of her household, the 
Chamberlain, and the officer who commanded the guard, 
* " Memoirs of the Marchioness of Bareith." 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HA^OYEE. 6D 

constantly dined at her table. She was allowed to go in 
her coach to the distance of a league from the Castle. 
Persons of inferior condition, workmen, and tradesmen, 
had free access ; but no man or woman of consideration 
was allowed to approach or speak to her. 

Sophia Dorothea was heiress to property under her 
mother's control. Her husband had no sympathy for the 
imprisoned mother of his wife, but was eager to secure to 
her the propert}^ to which she was entitled. He cor- 
responded with the Lady of Ahiden until he had secured 
that by the writings of his mother-in-law ; after which he 
desired that no further intercourse should be kept up 
with her by his wife. Obedience was the first duty of 
the Queen of Prussia, so that henceforward her consoling 
sympathy was lost to her mother for ever. " By the con- 
curring testimony of all persons, Sophia Dorothea bore her 
misfortunes with dignity and equanimity; never vented 
herself in reproaches against those who had injured or 
oppressed her ; and preserved the cheerfulness of a mind 
serene and innocent, in the midst of her hard condition. 
Even her beauty remained in a great degree unimpaired 
to a late period of her life."* 

At her father's death she succeeded to all his personal 
property, and subsequently contrived to remit large sums 
annually, from her separate income, to her son, the 
Electoral Prince, who maintained with her a correspon- 
dence of an affectionate character. She never quitted 
Ahiden. That place, which " lies across an unfrequented 
part of the Electorate, through a dreary tract of country," 
and is not less than thirty miles from Hanover, is thus 
described : — 

" Ahiden is surrounded with a double moat ; the building 
* WraxaU. 



36 TIIE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

composed only of brick and wood, resembling rather a 
large farm-house than a Ducal seat, and forming three 
sides of a square in figure. 

" In a large square apartment, which was the eating- 
room, are preserved two portraits : one of George I. at 
full length, in his robes of State; the other of Sophia 
Dorothea herself. This last is very ill-executed ; but it 
resembles all the other portraits of her which I have seen. 
She is represented in a sort of fancy dress embroidered, 
and her hair ornamented with flowers. The face is charm- 
ing, and there is in its expression a wildness or playfulness, 
which adds to its effect. " # 

In the innermost of three chambers on the same floor, 
one within the other, the unfortunate Princess of Hanover 
expired, on the 13th of November, 1726, at eleven o'clock 
at night, after a short indisposition, at the age of sixty 
years and nine months, forty of which she had passed at 
Ahlden. 

It was not George I.'s fate long to survive the wife he 
had so hardly treated. He set off for Hanover June 23rd, 
1727, and a week after died at Osnaburgh, aged sixty-seven 
years and thirteen days. Had Sophia Dorothea been his 
survivor, it was the intention of her son to bring her 
over to England, and proclaim her Queen Dowager. The 
very morning after the news of George I.'s death reached 
England, Lady Suffolk, going into Queen Caroline's dress- 
ing-room, was surprised to behold a full-length portrait 
of a lady in Royal robes, and in the bedchamber a half- 
length of the same person, neither of which Lady Suffolk 
had ever seen before. 

The Prince, who is said to have hated his father as much 
as he loved his mother, had kept these pictures concealed, 
* Wraxall. 



SOPHIA DOKOTHEA OF HAXOYEK. 37 

not daring to produce them during the King's lifetime. 
The whole-length was probably sent afterwards to 
Hanover ; the half-length came into the possession of the 
Princess Amelia, who said it had been her grandmother's 
property, and who eventually bequeathed it, with other 
family pictures, to her nephew, the Landgrave of Hesse. 

Walpole, speaking of the Queen Dowager of Prussia, 
says — " During the parsimonious barbarity of her hus- 
band, a pension of 800Z. a-year, on Ireland, had been 
privately transmitted to her, and she retained it to her 
death. The Duke of Bedford was persuaded to ask this 
for the Duchess's sister, Lady Betty Waldegrave, and 
obtained it." 

It was believed that George I. had bequeathed a large 
sum to his daughter, the Queen of Prussia ; and Frede- 
ric II., King of Prussia, is said to have often claimed his 
mother's legacy. 

Ranke says— " Whenever George I. visited Hanover, he 
always, if possible, arranged a meeting between himself and 
his daughter and son-in-law. Sometimes he went to Berlin, 
in order to see his grandchildren, who were then growing 
up ; but now, often the King and Queen of Prussia went 
to Hanover, or to a hunting-seat called the Gohrde, on 
the borders of the Altmark, where huge forests of oak and 
beech mark the ancient boundaries which separated the 
Saxon and the Wendish nations. In the summer of 1725 
King George I. visited Hanover, accompanied by the 
English Minister, Lord Townsend — a man who combined 
fire and boldness with experience, and a thorough know- 
ledge of business. Frederic William and Sophia Doro- 
thea went to see him, and they spent most of their time 
together in the gardens of Herenhausen, which then 
passed for the finest in the world. 



38 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

" The wish entertained by the Queen of Prussia to bring 
about a fresh alliance between the two families, was ex- 
ceedingly favourable to the policy of England. Most 
likely, this scheme had often been talked of before, but 
nothing definitive had been settled until now. The Queen, 
who was most affectionately received by her father, now 
hoped to obtain a positive promise from him to this effect; 
and Lord Townsend says, in one of his letters, that he 
does not think that there will be any difficulty about 
the matter." 

George II. continued to have a cherished desire to ally 
two of his own children with two of his cousins of the King 
of Prussia's family. Sir Charles Hotham, the English 
King's Ambassador to the Court of Prussia, proposed that 
Frederick, Prince of Wales, should marry the eldest 
daughter of the King of Prussia, and his second daughter 
that King's eldest son. The King of Prussia would not 
agree to give the Prince of Wales his eldest daughter 
without having the eldest, and not the second daughter of 
George, for Frederic, afterwards known as the Great. 
The young people on both sides deeply desired the pro- 
posed unions should take place. To further his sister's 
views, Frederic, Crown Prince of Prussia, formally de- 
clared he would give his hand to no other than an English 
Princess. The Ministers employed, entering into a cabal, 
seem to have dissuaded, by their artifices, King Frederic 
from entering into this cherished alliance; representing 
that Prussia would become reduced by it to a mere pro- 
vince, and himself to a sort of dependent Prince, and under 
the influence of his future daughter-in-law. The King 
dreaded nothing more than such a prospect ; and after 
endless negotiations, the whole matter fell to the ground. 

In 1728 an open misunderstanding broke out between 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HAXOYER. 89 

the King and the young Frederic. Soon after, the 
following occurrence took place : — 

" There was a great dinner at Wusterhausen in celebra- 
tion of St. Hubert's day ; the Prince sat opposite to the 
Queen, next to the Saxon Minister, Sulm, and repeated 
what he had often said to him before, that he could no 
longer endure the bondage in which he lived ; and that he 
entreated King Augustus to endeavour to obtain permission 
for him to travel, in order that he might enjoy a little 
more liberty. Contrary to his natural inclinations, and 
hurried away by the example of the company, he drank 
more than usual ; he spoke so loud as to be heard across 
the table ; even the Queen's manifest alarm did not restrain 
the Prince's complaints of his sufferings ; yet every time 
he looked at his father he was troubled, and interrupted 
himself, exclaiming — e I love him, nevertheless !' The 
Queen left the room, but the Prince would not go until he 
had taken leave of his father. He drew the hand which 
the King stretched out to him across the table, and covered 
it with kisses; and in this state of excitement and emotion 
he went up to him, clasped him round the neck, and 
threw himself upon his lap. There was not a single person 
present who was not acquainted with their dispositions 
towards each other : some loudly cheered the Prince, others 
shed tears. ' Enough,' said the King, c enough ; only be 
an honest lad.' At the smoking party in the evening 
nobody alluded to this incident, nor did the Prince make his 
appearance, but the King was in unusually high spirits." 

1740. — The King's illness increasing so as to become 
critical, the Crown Prince hastened to Potsdam to see him 
once more. May 28th, an affecting interview took place be- 
tween father and son, in which, after giving Frederic much 
good advice, Frederic William recommended the Queen 



40 TIIE HOYAL PRINCESSES. 

to the care of his successor, whose answer proved he would 
do more for her than his father required. He afterwards 
addressed his advice to his younger sons — to be brave sol- 
diers, faithful and dutiful to their elder brother, and to 
regard his honour and that of the State in all they did. 
On the 31st he summoned the whole Court into his presence, 
to whom he bade a last farewell, and showed them the 
coffin of oak, with copper bandies, which he had caused to 
be made for himself, and in which he " designed to sleep." 
He now requested his physicians to tell him how long he 
still had to live, whether it was an hour, then half an hour,' 
and at last a quarter. " God be praised !" said he ; " now 
all is over." He died that afternoon, between three and 
four.* 

" The obsequies of Frederic William I. were held at 
Potsdam on the 22nd of June. Frederic II. caused them 
to be celebrated with all possible pomp and splendour, in 
order that none might say that his father's memory had 
been rendered less dear to him by that which had for- 
merly taken place between them. There were, however, 
others who respected it less. On hearing a report that a 
bookseller of Amsterdam was printing a Life of Frederic 
"William, Frederic directed his envoy to make himself 
acquainted with the contents of the book ; and if he found 
it to contain anything derogatory to the fame of the late 
King, to prevent its publication. 

" The ceremony of interment was altogether military, 
in harmony with the character of the deceased sovereign. 
Frederic rejected the services of Pollnitz, who offered 
himself as master of the ceremonies, and chose to be 
attended solely by generals, such as Prince Leopold and 
the Duke of Holstein-Beek. A number of other officers 
* Iuiiike's " History of the House of Brandenburg." 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HA^OVEB. 41 

followed, not in any regular order of precedence. The 
three battalions of the tall regiment once more went 
through all the evolutions with their accustomed pre- 
cision — for even the new recruits had been drilled with 
the utmost care — and paid the last honours to the sove- 
reign who had raised them in the manner most congenial 
to his spirit. They attracted all the more attention, as 
every one knew that this was the last time that they 
were to be seen." # 

This regiment was disbanded directly afterwards by 
Frederic, for the sake of economy, who incorporated the 
best and most finely grown, but not the tallest men, with 
the regiment which he himself had commanded when he 
was Crown Prince, and thus formed three battalions of 
Foot Guards. 

The Queen survived her brutal husband, and in the 
affectionate and dutiful solicitude of her son, whom his 
father once thought of beheading — as Voltaire states, 
because he wrote verses — she found many consolations for 
the evening of her days. Her health had never been 
robust, yet she lingered on through many years of great 
bodily and mental suffering. 

It was expected that, influenced by his mother, the new 
King would entirely fall into the views of England, having 
in his youth had so great a preference for that country, 
and by his birth being, through mother and grandmother, 
a relation of the House of Hanover. But the heart of 
Frederic was changed, and " cured of its predilection for 
England;" and from the time of his accession he dis- 
pensed entirely with the female influence in his political 
actions ; therefore, one of the most ardent wishes his 
ambitious mother had entertained of governing through 
* Banke's " History of the House of Brandenburg." 



42 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

her influence over him was disappointed. Sophia Dorothea 
herself feeling personally aggrieved by George II. having 
suppressed his father's will, by which a legacy had been 
bequeathed to her, was not indeed disposed, on her part, 
to side with her brother, the English King. 

" Frederic II. enlarged his mother's residence of Mon 
Bijou, and gave her a more brilliant Court. When he 
begged her not to address him with the title of ' Ma- 
jesty,' but to call him ' son,' as heretofore, a name dearer 
to him than any other, this was no empty form, but the 
expression of a sincere feeling of reverence and gratitude. 
He wished to remove all the petty inconveniences which 
she had hitherto endured. 

"He stood in a very peculiar relation towards the 
Queen, his wife. He felt constantly that he had been 
forced into the marriage, and he was not disposed to sub- 
mit to this constraint all his life. Every one in Berlin, 
expected that he would divorce her ; but Elizabeth Chris- 
tine had, in her very difficult position, preserved so much 
womanly dignity, and had shown such excellent moral 
qualities, that the King could never have brought himself 
to so harsh an act. He gave her an honourable, and, 
considering the circumstances of the case, a splendid 
household,* together with the means of receiving a nu- 
merous and brilliant society. He himself never appeared 
at her assemblies, not even at the very beginning; he 
learned from others how she played her part. Altogether 

* " The new Queen had four ladies in waiting, with a high salary, 
and the title of Madame ; four maids of honour, with a small salary, 
and the title of Mademoiselle ; one Mistress of the Bobes, a Master 
of the Ceremonies, one Marshal of the Court and Chamherlain, twelve 
and whatever else belonged to such a ceremonial. None of the 
ladies in waiting were to be foreigners." — Eanke's "History of the 
House of Brandenburg." 



SOPHIA DOROTHEA OF HAIN'OVEK. 43 

he saw her very seldom ; much less was she the com- 
panion of his daily life. Such was the fate imposed upon 
them through each other. Frederic himself continued, 
only without his wife, the same sort of life at Chariot - 
tenburg that he had led at Kheinsberg." 

Sophia Dorothea enjoyed to the time of her death, when 
she was more than seventy, the affectionate attachment of 
her family and her subjects. 

She died only ten days after the memorable defeat at 
Colin, in June, 1757, leaving her son and the Prussian 
monarchy itself in the most perilous crisis. 

The eldest daughter of the Queen was the celebrated 
Marchioness of Bareith. 

Princess Frederica Louisa, the King's second daughter, 
married the Margrave of Brandenberg-Anspach. 

Philippina Charlotte, the third daughter of Sophia 
Dorothea, was promised to Charles, Hereditary Prince of 
Brunswick-Bevern, nephew to the Empress Regent, and 
married in 1734. 

Wraxall relates that, " Of the King's four sisters, only 
one, the Princess Amelia, youngest of Frederic William's 
numerous family, has remained unmarried. She occupies 
a splendid palace in one of the best streets of the metro- 
polis, and Frederic, who regards her with great affection, 
usually breakfasts with her whenever he occasionally 
visits Berlin. Having been elected Abbess of Quedlin- 
bourg in 1751, the income arising from that ecclesiastical 
preferment enables her to maintain an establishment suit- 
able to her birth. Her endowments of mind are said to 
be extraordinary, but her health and constitution are 
altogether broken by disease, though she is scarcely fifty- 
four years of age. Such are her infirmities, that she has 
entirely lost an eye and the use of one arm ; in conse- 



44 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

quence of which she is seldom seen in public, and never 
appears at Court."'"' 

The present King of Prussia is a lineal descendant of 
Sophia Dorothea, the second Queen of Prussia, and of 
George I., her father. 

* Wraxall's " Memoirs of tte» Cwrt. cf Berlin." 



45 



ANNE OF HANOVER, 

PRINCESS ROYAL, ELDEST DAUGHTER OF GEORGE II, 
AFTEBTTAKDS PKI^CESS OF OBANCKE. 

Birth of the Princess Royal at Hanover, 1709 — Queen Anne her god- 
mother — Present from her — Comes toEngland — Lands at Margate — 
Spends the first night at Rochester — Arrival in London — Miss Brett 
— Royal reading-lesson — Coronation of her grandfather — Birth of her 
brother, 1717 — Proposal to unite her to Louis XV. — Match broken 
off — Marriage contracted with William Charles Henry, Prince of 
Orange — Her ambition — Described by Lord Hervey — Prince's per- 
sonal appearance — The King's message to Parliament — Handsome 
allowance made on the occasion — Object of the match to secure 
Protestant succession — Prince's personal estate and income — Anne 
agrees to part with her guards — Her dresser appointed — Yacht 
despatched for the bridegroom — Horace Walpole his escort — Lord 
Lovelace appointed to meet him — Lodged in Somerset House — 
Strange reception given him by the King — Visited by the nobility 
— Queen sends for Lord Hervey — His account of the Prince — Her 
opinion of the match — He visits the Princesses — Their interview 
with Lord Hervey — Illness of the Prince — Postponement of the 
marriage — The event takes place — Anne's personal appearance — 
Questions as to precedency — Irish Peers dissatisfied — Duchess of 
Marlborough, and Frederick Prince of Wales, displeased — Prince of 
Wales escorts Prince of Orange to the principal sights of London — 
Opinions about the Prince — Departure of Anne — Letter from Miss 
Dyves, announcing her safe arrival, and account of her recep- 
tion — Further particulars — Anne returns to England in three 
months — Starts for Holland previous to her confinement — Gets as 
far as Colchester — On receipt of the Prince's letters returns to the 
English Court — Her strange conduct — Starts a second time — Re- 
turns again — Vexation of the King and Queen — They insist on her 
return — Letter from Miss Dyves — Death of Queen Caroline — Mes- 
sage to the Prince of Orange — Anne comes over to console her 
E 



46 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

father — His abrupt reception — She returns to Holland — Her cha- 
racter and accomplishments — Death of Frederick Prince of Wales 
— Death of the Prince of Orange — The cause — Anne previously 
had acted as Regent — On her husband's death takes the oaths as 
Gouvernante for her son — Embassy of Lord Holdernesse, with her 
father's advice — How received — Dubacq, the Princess's secretary 
— His influence over her — The House in the Wood described — 
Survives her husband ten years — Prevents a rupture between 
England and Holland — Signs a contract of marriage between her 
daughter and the Prince of Nassau Walburg — Her death — De- 
scendants of Anne. 

Anne, daughter of George, Electoral Prince of Hanover, 
by Caroline of Anspach, was born at Hanover on the 9th 
of October, 1709. Her grandfather was at that time 
Elector of Hanover, and her godmother, Queen Anne, sat 
upon the throne of England. When only two years old, 
a letter was addressed by the latter to the Dowager 
Electress Sophia, bearing date November 11th, 1711, and 
accompanied by a present to her godchild Anne — both 
letter and present being conveyed by Earl Rivers. The 
Electress, in her reply, communicated to the Earl of Straf- 
ford, Secretary of State, remarks that " the gift is infinitely 
esteemed;" and adds, "I would not, however, give my 
parchment (by which she is thought to have alluded to the 
Act of Succession) for it, since that will be an everlasting 
monument in the archives of Hanover ; and the present 
for the little Princess will go, when she is grown up, into 
another family." The death of the Queen, her god- 
mother, when the little Princess was in her fifth year, 
caused George I. to repair to England, to take pos- 
session of his new dominions. Shortly after he was fol- 
lowed by Caroline, now no longer styled the Electoral 
Princess, but " Princess of Wales," in consideration of her 
husband's being next heir to the crown of England. The 



aotte or ha^oyee. 47 

eldest son of the Princess was left at Hanover, of whom 
much has to be said hereafter ; but Caroline brought with 
her to England her three young daughters. Anne, Amelia 
Sophia, and Caroline Elizabeth. They arrived in safety- 
October loth, 1714, and were met by the Prince, who 
escorted his family to the metropolis, and conducted them, 
on their arrival there, to the Palace of St. James's. 

Less pleasing in character than any of her sister Prin- 
cesses of the Hanoverian line was the Princess Anne, 
who, from her earliest infancy, exhibited latent seeds of 
an ambition and pride which could only be extinguished 
with her life. Many instances are on record. 

After the memorable, but lamentable misunderstanding 
took place between the King and the heir to the throne, 
the Prince and Princess of Wales were ordered by 
George I. to quit their residence at St. James's. They 
established themselves at the Palace in Saville-place, 
Leicester-square, where they continued till the King's 
death, which occurred June 30th, 1727. Their three 
daughters, however, resided at St. James's, under the 
same roof as then' grandfather, the King, and thus be- 
came exposed to a circumstance, which, young as was 
Princess Anne at the time, called forth no small share of 
her natural spirit. 

The circumstance alluded to was her treatment of Miss 
Anne Brett, sister of the poet Savage, and one of the worth- 
less favourites of her grandfather ; who, strange to say, 
had become located under the same roof with herself and 
sisters. Anne was old enough at the time to feel this 
insult deeply ; and, after the King departed for his 
last visit to Hanover, came to some words expressive of 
her sentiments towards Miss Brett, on the following 
occasion. The lady alluded to had ordered a door to be 



4$ THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

broken in the wall of her apartment, in order that she 
might have access by it to the Boyal gardens. The 
Princess Anne was in the habit of walking in those gar- 
dens, and being determined not to have Miss Brett for a 
companion, she gave orders that the door should be 
bricked up. Miss Brett, on her part, removed the 
obstruction to her own wish ; again did the Princess 
order that it should be bricked up as before — a warfare 
which was terminated only by the death of George I. 
(June 30th, 1727), which placed the Princess's parents on 
the throne, and entirely altered her own position, as 
well as put a stop to proceedings so derogatory to the 
Royal dignit} r . 

Another incident recorded of Anne, when very young, 
speaks volumes. She told her mother how very much she 
wished that she had had no brothers, that she herself might 
succeed to the crown. Caroline of Anspach reproving 
her for the remark, she said — " I would die to-morrow to 
be Queen to-day !" Such was her haughty and imperious 
disposition, that she had but small consideration for, or 
gentleness towards, those who waited upon her, even from 
inclination, a defect which her mother severely corrected. 
She discovered that the Princess was accustomed to make 
one of her ladies in waiting stand by her bedside every 
night, and read aloud to her till she fell asleep. On one 
occasion, the Princess kept her lady standing so long, that 
she at last fainted from sheer fatigue. On the following 
night, when Queen Caroline had retired to rest, she sent 
for her offending daughter, and requested her to read 
aloud to her for awhile. The Princess was about to take 
a chair, but the Queen said she could hear her better if 
she read standing. Anne obeyed, and read till fatigue 
made her pause. "Go on," said the Queen; "it enter- 



AITN"E O* .UAtfOYEE. 49 

tains me." Anne went on, sulkily and wearily, till in- 
creasingly weary she once more paused for rest, and 
looked round for a seat. " Continue, continue," said the 
Queen; "I am not yet tired of listening." Anne burst 
into tears with vexation, and confessed that she was tired, 
both of standing and reading, and was ready to sink with 
fatigue. " If you feel so faint from one evening of such 
employment, what must your attendants feel, upon whom 
you force the same discipline night after night ? Be less 
selfish, my child, in future, and do not indulge in luxuries 
purchased at the cost of weariness and ill-health to 
others !" Such was the address of her sensible mother. 

This was a wholesome lesson ; but, alas ! little profit did 
the young Anne make of it : she was so proud and 
egotistical that few could love her. 

Anne was only sixteen years of age when the Duke de 
Bourbon proposed to Louis XV. that he should make her 
his Queen, a match which certainly would have coincided 
with the ambitious views of the young lady herself. The 
contract was entered into between the two Boyal families 
of France and England ; but when it became apparent that 
the Princess Anne's becoming a French Queen would in- 
volve a necessity of her adopting the Boman Catholic 
faith, the subject was abruptly brought to a close, it being 
justly deemed one not to be thought of by a family, whose 
right to the English throne rested on the basis of a main- 
tenance of the Protestant principles. So Anne resigned 
herself as well as she could to the loss of her coveted 
bauble — a golden crown ! Eventually, and but a few years 
later, she determined upon the less ostentatious dignity of 
Princess of Orange ; and resolved, in spite of the personal 
deformities of Prince William Charles Henry, who is said 
to have had " a wry neck and a halt in his gait," to marry 



50 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

that Prince, provided the consent of her parents was ac- 
corded to the match. Neither George II. nor Caroline of 
Anspach in this matter interfered with their daughter's 
inclinations ; they, however, knew she was acquainted 
with her future husband only through the medium of 
pictures, never once having seen him, and therefore the 
King thought it advisable to inform his daughter that 
" the Prince was the ugliest man in Holland.' ' " I do not 
care," said Anne, "how ugly he may be. If he were a 
Dutch baboon I would marry him." " Nay, then, have 
your way," said George ; " have your way ; you will find 
baboon enough, I promise you !" Indeed, if Lord Hervey's 
account be to be trusted, the Prince's figure actually re- 
sembled that of a dwarf: he complains rather coarsely of 
his bad breath ; but even he admits that the Prince's 
" face was not bad, and his countenance was sensible." 
Anne neither was influenced at the time in her choice by 
these defects alluded to, nor subsequent to her marriage, 
for it appears that she became seriously and permanently 
attached to her chosen husband ; which proves her, in one 
respect at least, superior to the common opinions of her 
sex. Her considerations, in the first instance, were not a 
little influenced by the dread of becoming dependent on 
her brother Frederick, in the event of her father's death. 
Still the Prince of Orange was not a rich potentate, and 
there w^ere some sacrifices to be made hj Anne's pride on 
this occasion, of which one was the parting with her 
guards, to which she consented, as a matter of small im- 
portance. 

The marriage being determined upon, it was communi- 
cated by the King to both Houses of Parliament by a 
suitable message. This was in 1733, at which date Anne 
was in the twenty-fourth year of her age. It was stated 



ANNE OF HANOVEB. 51 

that the ohject of the King was to strengthen the Pro- 
testant succession by this alliance with a family and name 
always dear to this nation. The Parliament voted the 
Princess on this occasion 80,000Z., just double what had 
been given before under similar circumstances. The 
Prince's private income was not clear 12,000Z. a-year, for 
it was so encumbered by debts and other drawbacks that 
it was reduced to that sum, although nominally double. 

The following letter from Mrs. Conduit to Mrs. Clayton 
was written in the hope of obtaining for Mrs. Burr, a rela- 
tive of Sir Isaac Newton, the place of dresser to the 
Princess Eoyal. 

Mrs. Conduit's husband had been appointed Warden of 
the Mint in 1727 on the death of Sir Isaac Newton, a post 
given afterwards to Sir Andrew Fountaine, of Norford. 

" Mrs. Conduit to Mrs. Clayton. 

" May 1, 1733. 
" Madam, 

" I have a greater favour to beg at Court 
than I can hope to obtain, unless you will be pleased 
to intercede for me. It is to ask a Dresser's place to 
Princess Eoyal, to Mrs. Burr, niece to Sir Isaac Newton, 
and daughter to Colonel Barbor, who lost his life in that 
fatal party expedition to Canada. She married the eldest 
son of Mr. Burr, a Dutch gentleman, who, about fifteen 
years ago, came over to inherit 4000Z. a-year, two of 
which lies in Burr-street, near the Tower, and the other 
half about Harwich. Notwithstanding this great estate, 
he suffers his son (a thing not common in England) to 
struggle with so short a fortune as no economy can recon- 
cile to his birth and expectations. To be placed in a 
Eoyal family, in whose cause at and ever since the Eevo- 



52 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

lution ours have had the honour to signalize themselves, 
and under such an incomparable mistress, in a country 
where they have many friends and relations (her mother 
being also a Dutchwoman), would make them supremely 
happy. 

" You, Madam, may be assured, though she is my niece, 
I durst not presume to recommend her to the service of 
the Royal family, if her merit did not entitle her to be 
distinguished by those who patronize the worthy. She 
has had both a genteel and prudent education, has a very 
good understanding, and such temper and goodness, joined 
with discretion (at three-and-twenty), as have carried her 
through a life of difficulties. Such objects look upon 
you, Madam, as their sure mediator to the source of bounty, 
and your favour therein shall be always acknowledged with 
the utmost gratitude by, Madam, 

" Your most obliged and most obedient humble servant, 

" C. Conduit." 



All the requisite arrangements preparatory to the joyful 
event which was to take place having been made, at the 
close of the year 1733 a yacht was ordered to Holland to 
bring the Prince of Orange over to this country, Horace 
Walpole having been selected as his attendant hither. 
The Prince arrived safely at Greenwich, November 7th, 
and was lodged in Somerset House. George II. 's conduct 
on the occasion of his future son-in-law's coming has been 
much commented upon, and certainly not without jus- 
tice. He appears to have regarded him as a mere nobody, 
who came over to be ennobled by a marriage with his 
daughter, for he would not suffer any honours to be paid 
to the Prince on his arrival. The guns were not allowed 



ANNE OF HANOVEB. 53 

to salute, nor were the military ordered to be turned out. 
Lord Lovelace was in waiting with one of his Majesty's 
coaches to receive him on his landing ; but Lord Hervey 
had considerable difficulty in obtaining permission to con- 
vey the King's compliments to the newly-arrived bride- 
groom at Somerset House, where the Prince afterwards 
received numerous visits of congratulation from the nobility 
and gentry. 

Scarcely had Lord Hervey returned to the Palace after 
his interview with the Prince of Orange, when the Queen 
summoned him to her presence to obtain what information 
he might be able to give of her daughter's intended hus- 
band. Lord Hervey owned he had been most agreeably 
disappointed in his interview with the Prince ; that al- 
though not to be called an " Adonis," " his countenance 
was far from being disagreeable, and his address was 
sensible, engaging, and noble ;" moreover, his understand- 
ing deserved to be praised. He expressed his fear that 
the Princess must herself be in a great deal of anxiety. 
The Queen told him that in that he was mistaken ; she 
was in her own apartment at her harpsichord with some 
of the Opera people, and that she had been as easy all that 
afternoon as she had ever seen her all her life. " For my 
part," added Queen Caroline, " I never said the least word 
to encourage her to this marriage, or to dissuade her from 
it ; the King left her, too, absolutely at liberty to accept 
or reject it ; but as she thought the King looked upon it 
as a proper match, and one which, if she would bear his 
person, he should not dislike, she said she was resolved if 
it was a monkey she would marry him." 

One of the visitors, Lord Chesterfield, writes in these 
terms of the Prince of Orange : — " As far as I am able to 
judge from half an hour's conversation only, I think he 



54 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

has extreme good parts. He is perfectly well bred and 
civil to everybody, and with an ease and freedom that is 
seldom acquired but by a long knowledge of the world. 
His face is handsome ; his shape is not advantageous as 
could be ivished, though not near so bad as I had heard it 
represented. He assumes not the least dignity, but has all 
the affability and insinuation that is necessary for a person 
that would raise himself in a popular government. " 

Lord Hervey's next visit was to the Princesses, who 
were eagerly awaiting the description of their new brother- 
in-law, and inquired if they might hope to have a more 
true one, now he was in the same town, than had alreadjr 
been given by those who had only seen him in Holland. 
In allusion, probably, to the story of " the baboon," 
Princess Caroline spoke of him as "the animal;" not 
the most elegant epithet, nor the strongest evidence of 
respect to the new member of the Royal family, which 
might have been adopted ; but had most likely been used 
playfully ; neither herself nor sisters seem to have testified 
much sensibility towards the Prince, who was so soon to 
become a brother. 

The nuptials were to have been solemnized without 
delay ; but soon after the arrival of the Prince he was 
taken so exceedingly ill, that it became evident he 
would be unable to appear at the altar on the appointed 
day, so that the ceremony was necessarily postponed inde- 
finitely. During his illness the conduct of the Poyal 
family was still more remarkable, for not one of its mem- 
bers visited him, a circumstance freely commented upon 
by the Dutch suite. His was a case not likely to be rapid 
in convalescence : it was not till the following January 
that the invalid was enabled to travel by easy stages to 
Bath, then the place of fashionable resort, and the waters 



AtftfE OF HANOYES. 55 

esteemed a certain cure for every sort of disease. After 
recruiting his health at that place for a month, the 
Prince of Orange was enabled in February to appear at 
Oxford, where he dined, and received the compliments of 
the University. At the end of the month after that, the 
Princess Royal's marriage to him took place at the French 
Chapel, St. James's, the Bishop of London performing 
the nuptial ceremony. This event took place on the 
evening of the 24th of March, 1733. 

On the occasion the bridegroom was attired in a " rich 
suit of cloth of gold ;" the bride in " virgin robes of silver 
tissue, having a train six yards long, which was supported 
by ten Dukes' and Earls' daughters, all of whom were 
attired in robes of silver tissue." At midnight the Royal 
family supped in public, and the bridal pair did not retire 
until two in the morning to the State apartment prepared ; 
when the usual ceremonial of sitting up in bed, " in rich 
undresses," while the whole company defiled before them, 
followed. Such was the custom in the times of which we 
write. 

Much has been said on the personal appearance of 
the bridegroom ; but, generally speaking, it is the bride 
of whom most notice is taken on these occasions. Anne of 
Hanover is said to have possessed a clear complexion, and 
to have been extremely fair, but unfortunately marked 
with the small-pox. She was not reckoned to possess 
elegance of figure, and was rather inclined to embonpoint. 

There were many questions about precedency on the 
occasion of the Princess Royal's marriage. Lord Hervey 
was master of the ceremonies. It had been arranged that 
the Irish peers should walk in the procession after the 
entire peerage of Great Britain, at which they conceived 
themselves entitled to complain, and petitioned to follow 



56 TIIE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

those of their own degree of the peers of England and 
Scotland. The difference between the respective parties 
ran so high, that it ended in Lord Hervey leaving out 
altogether the names of the Irish peers from his list, and 
saying, that if they were not satisfied, they might walk 
through the procession in any order they pleased on the 
day after the wedding ! 

The Duchess of Marlborough had been most seriously 
annoyed at the postponement of the Princess Royal's mar- 
riage, as the preparations necessary to be made on the oc- 
casion involved a temporary blockading of her mansion, 
Marlborough House, Pall-Mali, by a boarded gallery 
erected close to her windows, and of course excluding the 
light. It was for the purpose of accommodating the 
bridal procession. During the whole term for which the 
grand event was postponed the boards remained up, to the 
Duchess's great vexation, who often called attention to 
them by observing, " I wish the Princess would oblige me 
by taking away her Orange chest V 

The Chapel Royal when completed was truly splendid. 
The gallery was contrived very commodiously ; on each 
side were erected* three rows of seats, railed in, which, 
with the floor and sides, were covered with scarlet baize. 
The chapel was lighted with thirty-six branches, each 
holding twelve large wax-candles, and one hundred and 
twenty-six sconces, each holding three smaller wax-candles. 
At one end of the chapel was a splendid altar, before which 
the nuptial ceremony was performed ; on the right of 
which was a throne, with two chairs of State for their 
Majesties. Adjacent to the throne was a canopy of State 
for their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, the Duke 
of Cumberland, and the Princesses Amelia and Caroline ; 
and facing the Royal throne were erected two chairs of 



AXX& OJf HANOVEK. 57 

State, on which their Highnesses the newly-married 
couple sat, while the anthem,* appropriately selected, 
and composed by the celebrated Handel, was performed. 
The aisles on each side of the altar, and the two side gal- 
leries, were hung with crimson velvet, trimmed with 
broad gold lace and fringe. One of the galleries was ap- 
propriated to the two youngest Princesses, and the 
nobility who did not walk in the procession, and the other 
to the foreign Ambassadors. The area, or Jiaut-pas, near 
the altar, was covered with fine purple cloth, on which 
their Majesties stood during the ceremony. In the front 
gallery were erected twelve rows of seats, as well as six in 
the front, and four below, which were covered with fine 
scarlet harrateen, and were allotted to the nobility who as- 
sisted in the procession. Over the altar was erected 
another gallery, in which was stationed his Majesty's 
band of music. 

The processions to and from the chapel were of a most 
splendid and magnificent description. That of the bride- 
groom led the way, preceded by a numerous and well- 
appointed band, with the sergeant-trumpeter in his collar 
of SS and mace, which filed off at the entrance of the 
chapel, and so returned with each separate procession. 
The bridegroom followed in his nuptial apparel, invested 
with the Collar of the Garter, and conducted by his 
Grace the Duke of Grafton, Lord Chamberlain, and sup- 
ported by the Earls of Scarborough and Wilmington, 
Knights of the Garter, and both bachelors, wearing their 
collars. His Highness the bridegroom was then con- 
ducted to his seat at the altar, and the Lord Chamberlain 

* Four months before the celebration of this marriage, Handel had 
the honour to conduct the rehearsal of the music composed for the 
occasion before their Majesties and the Royal family at St. James's. 



58 THE HOYAL PRINCESSES. 

and Vice-Chamberlain returned back to conduct the 
bride. 

Next followed the procession of the bride, in a similar 
manner, preceded by her Royal Highness' s Gentleman 
Usher, between two provincial Kings-at-Arms. Her 
Royal Highness was attired in a splendid nuptial habit, 
with a coronet, conducted by the Lord Chamberlain and 
the Vice-Chamberlain, and supported by the Prince of 
Wales and the Duke of Cumberland, wearing collars 
of the Order of the Garter ; her train supported by 
ten young unmarried ladies, daughters of Dukes and 
Earls, appointed for this purpose; those of the highest 
degrees nearest her person, all dressed in white. They 
were Ladies Fanny Manners, Caroline Campbell, Louisa 
Bertie, Caroline Pierpoint, Betty Seymour, Ann Cecil, Di 
Gray, Caroline D'Arcy, Fanny Montague, and Anne 
Pierpoint. The Prince of Wales was preceded by his ser- 
vants, one by one, in a line before him ; the Duke's and 
the bride's in the same manner. Then unmarried ladies, 
daughters of peers, two-and-two, the highest degrees 
nearest the bride, and peeresses in the same manner. The 
bride was then conducted to her seat opposite to the 
bridegroom ; her Royal brothers and their several retinues 
to the stations allotted them ; and the Lord Chamberlain 
and Vice-Chamberlain returned to the palace as before. 

The procession of their Majesties then proceeded to the 
chapel in the following manner : — Knight-Marshal ; pur- 
suivants ; heralds ; Knights of the Bath, not peers, in the 
collars of their Order, two-and-two, according to their 
seniorities, juniors first ; Privy Councillors, not peers ; Sir 
Robert Walpole, with his collar; Sir Conyers D'Arcy, K.B., 
with his collar, as Comptroller of the Household ; Barons, 
Bishops, Viscounts, Earls, Marquises, Dukes, each degree 



AXKB OP HA^OYEE. 59 

two-and-two, according to their precedences, those being 
Knights of the Thistle, Garter, or Bath, wearing their 
respective collars ; two provincial Kings-at-Arms ; Lord 
Privy Seal; Lord Chancellor; Garter Principal King-at-Arms 
between two Gentlemen Ushers; the Earl Marshal, with his 
gold staff; the Duke of Montague, K.G., with the sword 
of State, supported by the Lord Chamberlain and the Vice- 
Chamberlain ; his Majesty, with the great Collar of the 
Garter ; Captain of the Guards, with the Captain of the 
Band of Pensioners on his right, and the Captain of the 
Yeomen of the Guard on his left; Earl of Pembroke, Lord 
of the Bedchamber in Waiting; Sir Robert Eich and Colonel 
Campbell, the Groom of the Bedchamber in Waiting ; her 
Majesty, preceded by Mr. Coke, her Vice-Chamberlain, 
and supported by the Earl of Grantham, her Lord Chamber- 
lain, and the Earl of Pomfret, her Master of the Horse ; 
the Princesses Amelia, Caroline, Mary, and Louisa, each 
supported by two Gentlemen Ushers ; the Ladies of her 
Majesty's Bedchamber, Maids of Honour, and Women of the 
Bedchamber, each degree two-and-two, according to their 
precedences ; closed by the Gentlemen Pensioners in two 
rows on each side. 

During the procession the organ played. On entering 
the chapel each person was placed according to rank. 
Divine service then commenced, and after the Bishop of 
London had given the blessing, their Majesties and the 
bride and bridegroom removed to the altar. The Prince 
of Orange then taking the Princess by the hand, chey 
knelt, and were joined in holy matrimony according to 
the ceremony of the Church of England ; after which they 
arose, and resumed their seats during the performance of 
the anthem. 

The procession then returned, and as soon as it had 



60 THE ROTAL PI1INCESSES. 

arrived at the door of the lesser drawing-room, the com- 
pany stopped ; but their Majesties, the Prince of Wales, 
the Duke, the bride and bridegroom, and the Princesses 
went in, when the Prince of Orange and Princess Royal 
knelt, and asked their Majesties' blessing. 

" At eleven, the Eoyal family supped in public in the 
great State ball-room. Their Majesties were placed under 
a canopy at the head of the table. On the right hand sat 
the Prince of Wales, the Duke, and the Prince of Orange ; 
and on the left, the Princess Eoyal, Princesses Amelia, 
Caroline, and Mary. The Countess of Hertford performed 
the office of carver. About one the bride and bridegroom 
retired, and were afterwards seen by the nobility sitting 
up in their bedchamber in rich undresses. 

" A few days after this marriage the Eoyal pair, with the 
Princesses, went to view the paintings by Mr. Yander 
Myn, at his house in Cavendish-square. His Serene 
Highness was so much pleased with these performances, 
that he ordered a whole length portrait of himself to be 
painted in the robes of the Garter. The painter performed 
his commission in one of the Princesses' apartments in 
St. James's Palace with so much success, that the Prince 
of Wales was induced to sit for his picture. During the 
necessary interviews the Prince became so attached to the 
painter, that, as a mark of his condescension and esteem, 
he requested his sister, the Princess of Orange, who had a 
fine taste for the arts, to make a drawing of Mr. Vander 
Myn's portrait, for which the painter had the honour to 
sit. Her Eoyal Highness obligingly performed the draw- 
ing with a delicate and masterly execution." # 

For a whole week after the marriage, Frederick Prince 
* Pyne's " Eoyal Residences." 



ANNE OF HANOYEB. 61 

of Wales, who was not particularly pleased at the Princess 
Royal having married before himself, escorted his brother- 
in-law to all the sights in the metropolis. Afterwards a 
bill of naturalization was passed, being brought in and read 
three times in the same day. More than this, as though 
the King's heart was indeed warming in earnest to his 
new relative, he sent a written message to the Commons, 
announcing his intention of settling 5000Z. a-year on the 
Princess Royal, which grant the King requested they 
would enable him to make for the life of the Princess, or 
it would terminate on his own death. The consent was 
readily given, and the Prince of Orange was made ac- 
quainted with the circumstance. 

Meanwhile the bride prepared to bid adieu to her former 
home and family. Par from admitting that she was to be 
pitied for the choice she had made, as some had intimated, 
on account of the Prince's personal appearance, she testi- 
fied the utmost affection for her husband. As Lord Her- 
vey remarked, " She made prodigious court to him, ad- 
dressed everything she said to him, and applauded every- 
thing he said to everybody else." Her sisters widely 
differed in opinion as to their sister's felicity in the match. 
Amelia declared " such a man no power on earth should 
have forced her to wed." Caroline approved of the choice 
of Anne as a wise one ; and said, had she been similarly 
situated, she would have done the same. 

The bridegroom did not, on his part, show much emo- 
tion towards either his bride or her family in his conduct, 
which appears to have been uniform and polite. Frederick 
Prince of Wales chose to be displeased with Anne for 
having married before him and accepted a settlement from 
her father, who had given none to him. 



(52 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

It was not till the 10th of April, 1734, that the Prince 
and Princess set forth from St. James's, on their route for 
Holland. 

Miss Dorothy Dyves, who attended her Eo}^al Highness 
the Princess Anne to Holland on the occasion of her 
nuptials, addressed the following letter on that occasion 
to Mrs. Clayton, her aunt, afterwards Lady Sundon. 



" Miss Dorothy Dyves to Mrs, Clayton. 

"Zeewarden, May 11, 1734. 
"Dear Madam, 

"As I am so far from my best friends, I 
hope it will be an excuse for the following long letter ; but 
I really believe myself so much in your favour, that you 
will not be displeased. 

" I must first thank you for your very kind letter. I 
had no small pleasure in showing it to my mistress, who 
said, ' Dyves, I am glad to see Mrs. Clayton loves you so 
well.' She also said you had given me an account of the 
election 3i sensible, and like yourself, and commanded me to 
make her compliments to you whenever I wrote. I hope 
you will give me the satisfaction of often hearing from 
you, which % will be double pleasure to me ; for 1 shall 
always lay up your letters as good advice, like old gold. 

" We crossed the Zuyder Sea from Amsterdam in twenty- 
two hours — (many of them were very sea-sick, but I was 
not at all so ; the Princess saw she had been told the 
truth ; she lay in bed all the time, and by that means was 
pretty well) — and came to Harlingen, where we lay, and 
continued in the yachts from Saturday noon to Tuesday 
morning, things not being ready for a public entry. It 
was indeed very handsome ; the coaches quite new, and 



ANNE OF HANOVEB. 63 

the horses the finest I ever saw. As I made a part of the 
procession, I can give you but a little account of it ; but 
what I do know I will trouble you with. There was a 
leading coach with some of the States ; then followed her 
Royal Highness and the Prince of Orange in a fine open 
coach and eight horses ; the Prince of Orange's chariot, 
empty, followed them.* .... After us came the Princess of 
Frieze's Maid of Honour, in one of her coaches. We 
were ordered by our Princess to take care of her every- 
where. The Maid of Honour is her dresser and every- 
thing else, for she has no other woman-servant. After 
this we were followed by near a hundred gentlemen's 
coaches. From the gate into Friezland, quite up to the 
drawing-room, were guards to make a lane for us, as close 
as they could stand on both sides. Their greatest com- 
pliment was firing past under our noses ; it was so close 
that they broke several of our windows. The evening 
concluded with the finest fireworks I ever saw, but they 
were so long that it was past two before the Princess went 
to bed, and near four before I did. The Princess of 
Frieze dined with her Eoyal Highness the day she came, 
and stayed till late at night. Last night we had a Draw- 
ing-room, and really very well-looking people, and as fine 
in clothes and lace as could be without gold or silver. I 
believe there might be about forty ladies, but more gen- 
tlemen. The Princess Royal's behaviour quite pleased 
them. There was no kissing of hands. She stood with 
them about half an hour and then retired, as in England. 
Wednesday is fixed for Drawing-room days. We have all 
orders to be dressed. We have a coach and footman to 
attend us when we go out. We have just now all ten 
been to wait on the Princess of Frieze in coaches, though . 
* The next passage is injured in the original. 



64 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

it is not above half a street's length. She was very civil. 
We all sat down and stayed about half an hour with her ; 

then took leave, as in a visit Lady Herbert is very 

civil to me, but Lady Southwell is quite good ; being in 

the yacht together caused a good deal of intimacy 

They both endeavour to put us upon the best footing that 
can be; they were resolved not to sit down with the 
Princess, unless she asked us. I told them I thought it 
impossible she could ask any without asking all ; and so 
we found it. Mr. Talbot went with us, in which he 
judged ill, for she asks no men to sit, but was obliged to 
sit down herself as she had women there. The other gen- 
tlemen belonging to the Princess went this morning ; she 
stood with them, but did not leave them, as our Royal 
family does ; so when they thought it a proper time they 
took leave. Mrs. Charles behaves very civilly to me, in- 
deed rather friendly than otherwise, and has not let any- 
thing slip that she could tell the Princess to my advan- 
tage. Mrs. Swinton is quite angry that I was all the 
voyage with the Princess, and scolded me one whole day, 
which vexed me a good deal. Mrs. Charles told the Prin- 
cess of it, and how well I had behaved upon it. The 
Princess spoke of it to me and bid me not mind it, for 
she would raccommode her, as she called it ; and so she 
has, I believe, for she has behaved very well lately. The 
Maids of Honour are very well, except poor Miss Howe. 
.... I have made bold to tell all the young folks that 
I am very glad to see them in an afternoon, but must have 
my morning to myself; the two ladies and Mrs. Charles 
do the same. The first day the Prince of Orange's ser- 
vants and the pages were coming to my room all day long ; 
but I assured them it was the last time they should do so, 
and have been very quiet since. We have people found 



AKNE OF HAKOYEE. 65 

us that clean our rooms and wash for us, so there is no 
expense of that kind ; sheets and towels are also found, 
silver candlesticks, and china (tea-things, I mean), and 
sugar. 

" The Ladies of the Bedchamber and Maids of Honour 
dine together, and some of the Prince of Orange's ser- 
vants. We have a table that holds eight to ourselves, and 
the Princess's dinner ; so each of us has the liberty to 
invite one. I have talked a good deal of keeping good 
company, and I do believe we shall. I invited Miss Her- 
bert to-day. We have hitherto had none but people that 
were fit to dine with us. Lady Southwell I have invited 
to-morrow ; I told Lady Herbert I knew she could not, 
as she was in waiting. They are all glad to be with us, 
for we have by much the best table ; no allowance of wine, 
but may call for what quantity and what sort we please. 
We have two men to wait. 

" I think our lodgings very good ; but the Prince of 
Orange told us he was sorry he could not accommodate us 
better, but it was only for a little while, and we should 
find more room in other places .... I am acquainted with 
Mr. Chevenix. He is quite obliging and civil to me ; he 
is with me every morning for an hour to teach me French, 
which is really doing me a very great kindness, and giving 
himself a good deal of trouble .... You were so good 
to leave nothing undone that could be useful to me or 
please me ; I hope and think you will never find me un- 
grateful. 

" The Princess depends upon returning to England again 
in a very little time. She told me to-day that there 
would not be room for either me or Miss Pott at Court, 
but that she would send her to her mother, if she liked it, 
and me wherever I pleased, unless I would be with 



G6 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

my sister. I told her, if you were in Bedfordshire, I be- 
lieved you would give me leave to spend some of my time 
with you. She said, i Mrs. Clayton would be glad of you, 
Dy ves, and I will send you.' I hope it will not be incon- 
venient for me to be a little time with you, for I am sure 
it will give me vast pleasure. I shall also- spend some time 
with my dear Fanny, if she has room, and some with my 
good friend, Mrs. Yanbrugh. I cannot, for my life, make 
myself believe it will be so soon as this summer ; every- 
body else does believe it, so I keep my thoughts to myself. 
I do not think anybody but the Princess seems much 
pleased ; it is two very fatiguing journeys in a very short 
time, to be sure ; but yet I must own I should be very 
glad to have an opportunity to spend a little time with 
you, Madam (my best), and the rest of my friends. I 
hear, nobody that chooses to stay here, need go ; but every 
one will be ashamed to do that, for it looks as if they had 

no place to go to I shall write a word or two to 

my sister, but cannot possibly write all this over again, 
and therefore beg the favour of you, Madam, to show 
it her. The Princess Royal and Prince dine at one 
o'clock, and sup at nine ; but for all that, it is near twelve 
before I can get to bed, for we do not sup till they are in 
bed. Hearing from you, Madam, will give great plea- 
sure to 

" Your most dutiful, humble Servant, 

" Dorothy Dyves." 

" I hope you will forgive my giving you the trouble 
of these letters. The Princess ordered me to lay all 
my letters upon her dressing-table ; but I did not think it 
right to trouble her with more than one packet, and 



ANNE OE HANOVEB. 67 

I thought directing it to you was the surest way not to 
have it miscarry. I beg the favour of you to send 
Mr. Yanbrugh's to the penny post-house." 

The Mr. Chevenix referred to by the Maid of Honour 
was chaplain to the Princess Royal, and afterwards 
married Miss Dyves, the writer. A very pleasing letter 
from him to Lady Sundon, in behalf of his suit, appears 
in Mrs. Thomson's Memoirs, by which it appears he was, 
in point of fortune, not esteemed an equal match to 
the lady of his choice. In the letter is this passage : — 

" As to my fortune, I pretend to none. My salary, as 
chaplain to her Royal Highness, and a living that brings 
me in 100Z. a-year clear, is all I have ; but the honour of 
serving the Princess Royal will, I hope, be thought a rea- 
sonable earnest of some future preferment ; and could 
I ever be happy enough to obtain your protection, I 
might flatter myself that I should one day owe to your 
goodness what I can never expect from my own merit 
— such a competency of fortune as may make Miss 
Dyves' choice a little less unequal." 

It would appear from the following letter, that, however 
agreeable her position might be, there was some cause 
of dissatisfaction for Miss Dyves in the conduct of her 
Royal mistress. 

" Miss Dorothy Dyves to Mrs. Clayton. 

"May 29, N.S., 1734. 
" Deae Madam, 

" I expect with impatience the pleasure of a 
letter from you, as you was so good to promise me. I 
have had one from Fanny, which is all I have had from 



G8 THE EOTAL PllINCESSES. 

any of my friends since I came here. The Princess 
Royal promised me she would write to Princess Caroline 
to chide Fanny, which I think she deserves ; though, 
perhaps, as hearing from our friends is our chief satisfaction, 
we may expect so much. This, I doubt, will be an expense 
to you, for we can no longer send them post free, and 
what comes to us we pay for, unless they are actually 
under the Princess's own cover. Her Royal Highness 
continues her great goodness to me, and as I read to her, 
am with her very much. I read five hours yesterday; she 
commends me very much to Lady Southwell, who is very 
civil to me. Lady Herbert behaves well enough, but 
nothing extraordinary. One thing I think is a little odd, 
which is, that I am the only one she has not asked to dine 
at her table ; she spoke very handsomely of you, and de- 
sired her service, whenever I wrote. She either takes 
something ill from me, or does not like me : I am quite 
sure I have done nothing to deserve it ; I came over 
much more biassed to her than Lady Southwell. By my 
being so much with the Princess, I have been employed to 
speak to her almost about everybody's business, which 
makes me well esteemed amongst them ; so I flatter myself 
you will hear no ill character of me, and that I shall in 
some degree come up to what you, Madam, were so good 
to say for me. You may believe, Madam, I never miss an 
opportunity of naming you to her in the manner you 
deserve, not only from me, but every one whom you honour 
with your friendship. I plainly see my Royal mistress 
has a prodigious good opinion of you, which gives me 
great pleasure. The greatest compliment we can make 
the Princess is, to show her our English letters ; so if 
you have anything to write you do not care she should 
see, please to send a double letter ; for though I would not 



AN^E OF HANOVEB. 69 

choose she should see all, I would show her the first. 
She told me to-day we should go to the Hague for ten or 
twelve days in three weeks' time, and from thence to 
England, which indeed gives us all great pleasure. By 
taking proper opportunities, I can already speak to the 
Princess Eoyal as well as I could to yourself, especially as 
I have her so much alone. There is a great pleasure in 
thinking that, some time or other, one may have it in 
one's power to assist one's friends. I am quite happy that 
she is pleased with my reading ; I do not find it is at all 
troublesome to me, but it makes me have little time for 
anything else. I hope Mr. Clayton is well, and beg my 
best respects to him, and service to Miss Charlotte Dyves, 
and I am, dear Madam, 

" With the greatest respect, 
" Your dutiful and obliged humble Servant, 

"D. Dyves." 

Anne returned to England three months after her mar- 
riage, much to the annoyance of her father, and not much 
to the satisfaction of her mother. 

Lady Hervey (the beautiful Mary Lepel), in a letter 
addressed to Mrs. Clayton, from St. James's, June 2nd, 
1734, announces the circumstance in these words: — "The 
newspapers will inform you with what cruelty the war in 
Italy is pursued ; there has been rather a massacre than 
a battle, the consequence of which is, that there is not 
a family of any quality at Paris and Vienna that is not 
in mourning. How happy are we who have nothing to 
do in it ! and who, whilst they are grieving for those who 
are gone for ever, are now rejoicing for the return of the 
Princess Eoyal, who arrived at Kensington at two o'clock 
this morning." 



70 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

Anne having stayed as long as she possibly could in 
England, set off for Holland, whither she went for her ' 
confinement: the Princess had internally resolved that 
this event should take place in England, to which her 
brother, Frederick Prince of Wales, would have had a 
very great objection, as on one occasion the Princess 
Amelia had remarked to Mrs. Clayton. The Princess of 
Orange's object, prompted by her innate ambition, was, 
that her infant should be English horn ; for, as her bro- 
thers were unmarried, she thought she might yet stand in 
the line of inheritance to the throne. The Queen, her 
mother, however, thought it more proper that the wishes 
of her husband should be regarded, and insisted on Anne's 
returning to him. After innumerable delays, she de- 
parted from St. James's for Holland, where the Prince 
awaited her, her mind occupied up to the last moment of 
her stay with the triumph of Handel, and success of the 
Opera. Both were committed by her to Lord Hervey's 
patronage, when she bade farewell to the metropolis, and 
in tears set forth for Colchester. On her arrival there, 
some letters from her husband informed her that he would 
not be at the Hague so soon as he expected. Anne 
availed herself of the circumstance to return suddenly to 
Kensington. " On the following day, the 22nd of October, 
the Princess Anne suddenly appeared before her parents. 
They thought her at Harwich, or on the seas, the wind 
being fair. Tears and kisses were her welcome from her 
mother, and smiles and an embrace formed the greeting 
from her father." 

During her stay in England, Anne became acquainted 
with the particulars of Lady Suffolk's withdrawal from 
the Court, and heartily rejoiced at the tidings. The King 
counted, it is said, on his daughter Anne's affection being 



ANNE OF HANOYER. * 71 

stronger than that of her sisters ; but his daughter's man- 
ner of speaking of him, if true, was anything but evidence 
of this, being to the last degree disrespectful, as though 
she even despised him and thought him tiresome, requiring 
always novelty in conversation from others, but never 
having anything new of his own. She filially remarked, 
" I wish with ail my heart he would take somebody else, 
that mamma might be a little relieved from the occasion 
of seeing him for ever in her room!" What a remark, 
and from a Princess of England ! We would gladly have 
been spared recording such a sentiment from a child to a 
parent. 

Anne, in November, made another effort to return to 
Holland, but was so much annoyed by the customary 
inconveniences that she requested of the captain to land 
her again, declaring that ten days would hardly suffice to 
enable her to be well enough once again to go on board. 
It is in vain to attempt anything like a description of the 
confusion created by this circumstance. Both the King 
and Queen absolutely insisted that she should depart for 
Holland by way of Calais, as the kind consideration of 
her thoughtful husband had suggested ; but she could not 
accomplish this without passing through London, greatly 
as the King was annoyed by it, who persisted in saying 
that she should not stop, but should proceed at once over 
London-bridge to Dover, and that she should never again 
come to England in the same condition of health. Well 
might King Greorge complain of his thoughtless child, for 
her visit had cost him no less a sum than 20,000Z. His 
determined manner of treating her had the desired effect. 
Anne finally returned to Holland, be her reluctance what 
it might, and there in due time became a mother. 

The following letter, written on the occasion of the 



72 'THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Princess of Orange's return, by Miss Dorothy Dyves to 
Mrs. Clayton, is too entertaining to be overlooked here : — 

" Hague, Dec. 6, N.S., 1734. 
"Dear Madam, 

" I had done nryself the honour of writing 
to you from Harwich, if that place had afforded anything 
that had been any way agreeable to you. We had a very 
good passage from thence ; we set sail on Tuesday evening, 
and arrived at Nelvort by ten on Thursday morning. 
Friday indeed was a day of very great hardships ; we 
were to walk from thence to the Brill, which is seven 
miles. As I never was a tolerable walker, I was reduced 
to take to an open waggon, which was a most dangerous 
passage, by reason of the badness of the roads. I was 
the only one would venture; none of the gentlemen 
had courage enough to accompany me (self-preservation 
will always get the better of complaisance) . I went quite 
by myself, for I did not think it reasonable to make my 
maid run the hazard of her neck, because I had no legs. 
The roads were the worst I ever saw, but not so bad as 
they were represented ; the worst thing to me was the 
cold — that was so extreme that I had a smarting all over 
me, as if I had been cut with knives. I got to my jour- 
ney's end almost an hour before everybody else, and went 
into a public-house, where I got a good fire and a large 
quantity of brandy, which soon recovered me ; but indeed, 
when I first went in, I did not think I could survive it ; I 
imagined I had lost all my teeth, for they then felt to me 
all loose. You, Madam, will think this a strange descrip- 
tion ; but I do assure you I would much rather go out of 
the world at once than go through it again. I am rejoiced 
to think the Princess is of so warm a constitution, for 



ANNE OF HANOVER. 73 

though everything will be made as convenient to her as 
possible, she has a terrible journey to go through ; it 
troubles me a good deal that I was not with her, because 
I am fearful I am not so useful to her as I thought myself. 
We arrived at the Hague about eight on Friday night ; 
the Prince came to us in half an hour, and told us he was 
much surprised the Princess did not lie-in in England, 
after what Dr. Douglas and Dr. Tissue had wrote him. 
He seemed very uneasy for her, and set out from home to 
meet her the next morning ; he was extremely gracious 
and good to us all. We meet with great civilities from 
the ladies, though they did not come to the Princess 
when she was here last ; most of them have been with us, 
which makes me hope they will alter their behaviour to 
our Royal mistress. Lady Albemarle does not go out, 
but we have been twice at her assembly by invitation, and 
are every day invited somewhere. I fear we shall have 
too much of t it. We were yesterday invited to a concert 
by a Jew, but as I did not think it would be of any use to 
the Princess to show him any particular civility, I chose 
to stay at home. (I believe nobody enjoys being alone so 
much as those whose fortune casts them into a Court.) I 
hear we are to have half a year's salary in a very little 
time, which will be very acceptable to everybody." .... 

Caroline of Anspach only survived her daughter's 
marriage till the year 1737, a period of scarcely three 
years. She did not evince any more inclination to see the 
Princess of Orange, when upon her death-bed, than Frede- 
rick Prince of Wales, with whom she had been on such 
bad terms. The Prince of Orange was informed that his 
wife's presence was not requisite, and that, in the event of 
her desiring to come to England for the purpose of seeing 



74 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

the Queen, he was to interpose his authority to prevent 
her doing so. How singular does this seem, that a mother 
should purposely express the desire for her child's absence, 
when about to be for ever separated in this world ! There 
is much in the character of Caroline of Anspach which, 
great and shining as were the talents she possessed, can 
scarcely be reconciled with those womanly qualities, 
which, always beautiful, are most to be admired when 
viewed in so exalted a position that all who look upward 
may admire their lustre. 

On the Queen's death Anne was pre-eminently before 
the rest of her family in offering consolation to the 
widowed King, her father. She hastened over from Hol- 
land, in the hope of seizing the influence that had passed 
from her mother. Her pretence for the visit was preca- 
rious health. The King, however, saw through the 
motive, which, indeed, by her own imprudence had tran- 
spired, and peremptorily rejected the condolence proffered 
by this presuming and ambitious daughter. So decided 
was he in doing so, that Anne returned immediately 
to Holland. The King, it is said, would not allow her to 
pass " a second night in the metropolis," but sent her on 
to Bath, whither her physicians had ordered her last on 
her return back to Holland. He had not forgotten her 
quarrels with Miss Brett, and was not desirous of any 
more family squabbles. Nor did the King ever forgive her 
for the insult offered to his vanity ; indeed, it is said, that 
Anne's conduct during the latter part of her life mani- 
fested no proof of her capability for reigning — evincing 
neither good sense nor political wisdom. 

" The Princess Boyal was accomplished in languages, 
painting, and particularly music. The Queen, and the 
King too, before their rupture, had great opinion of her 



ANNE OF HANOYEK. 75 

understanding : but the pride of her race, and the violence 
of her passions, had left but a scanty sphere for her 
judgment to exercise itself." * The following incident is 
characteristic of her peculiar style of repartee. On one 
occasion, when her husband had gone to the camp of 
Prince Eugene, she returned to England, behaving with as 
much boldness and freedom as usual. The news reaching 
the court that Philipsburg had surrendered, the Princess 
made the following remarks to Lord Hervey thereon, as 
he was conducting her to her own apartment after the 
Drawing-room. 

"Was there ever anything so unaccountable," she said, 
shrugging up her shoulders, " as the temper of papa ? He 
has been snapping and snubbing every mortal for this 
week, because he began to think Philipsburg would 
be taken ; and this very day that he actually hears 
it is taken, he is in as good humour as I ever saw him in 
my life. To tell you the truth," she added in French, 
" I find that he is so whimsical, and (between ourselves) so 
utterly foolish, that I am more enraged by his good, than 
I was before by his bad humour." " Perhaps," answered 
Lord Hervey, " he may be about Philipsburg as David was 
about the child, who, whilst it was sick, fasted, lay upon 
the earth, and covered himself with ashes ; but the moment 
it was dead, got up, shaved his beard, and drank wine." 
u It may be like David," said the Princess Poyal, "but I 
am sure it is not like Solomon !" 

The same year that Anne, Princess of Orange, lost her 
brother Frederick, she became herself a widow. The 
Prince of Orange died October 11th, 1751. " He had not 
improved in beauty since his marriage, but increasingly 
ugly as he became, his wife seemed also increasingly 
* Walpole. 



7G THE 110TAL PRINCESSES. 

jealous of him. Importunate, however, as the jealousy 
was, it had the merit of being founded on honest and 
healthy afFection.' , Walpole says, " The Prince is dead, 
killed by the waters of Aix-la-Chapelle. The Princess 
Royal was established Eegent some time ago, but as her 
husband's authority seemed extremely tottering, it is not 
likely that she will be able to maintain hers. Her health 
is extremely bad, and her temper is neither ingratiating 
nor bending. It is become the peculiarity of the House 
of Orange to have minorities." 

The immediate cause of the Prince's death was an im- 
posthume in the head. Although his health had been 
indifferent, his death was rather sudden and unexpected. 
Lord Holdernesse was sent over from England by the King 
— Walpole says, " to learn rather than to teach" — but cer- 
tainly with letters of condolence to Caroline's widowed 
daughter. She is said to have received the paternal sym- 
pathy and advice in the most haughty and insulting 
manner.* She was proud, perhaps, of being made the 
Gouvernante of her son, and she probably remembered his 
peremptory rejection of her own condolence. 

"The Prince had long been kept out of all share in the 
government, like his predecessor, King William ; like him, 
lifted to it in a tumultuous manner, on his country being 
overrun by the French, and the Stadtholdership made here- 
ditary in his family, before they had time to experience 
how little he was qualified to re-establish their affairs. 
iS'ot that he wanted genius, but he was vain and positive, 

* George II. was not himself the tenderest father to his children ; 
Anne was lying dangerously ill at the Hague on the 11th of December, 
1735, on which day the King was returning from Hanover to Eng- 
land, yet it is said, so great was his haste to accomplish the voyage, 
that he scarcely inquired after the health of his daughter. 



Als^B OF HA^OVEE. 77 

a trifling lover of show, and not master of the great lights 
in which he stood. The Princess Royal was more positive, 
and, though passionately imperious, had dashed all oppor- 
tunities that presented for the Prince's distinguishing 
himself, from immoderate jealousy and fondness for his 
person."* 

On the death of the Prince of Orange the Princess im- 
mediately took the oaths as Gouvemante to her son, and 
all orders of men submitted to her as quietly as in a 
monarchy of the most established duration ; though the 
opposite faction was numerous, and she herself lethargic, 
and in a very precarious state of health. Lord Holdernesse 
was sent to condole and advise her. She, who had long 
been on ill terms with, and now dreaded the appearance of 
being governed by, her father, received the ambassador, 
and three letters written with the King's own hand, in the 
haughtiest and most slighting manner. Lord Holdernesse 
was recalled in anger. The Princess, equally unfit to 
govern or to be governed, threw herself into the arms of 
France, by the management of one Dubacq, a little secre- 
tary, who had long been instilling advice into her to draw 
her husband from the influence of Monsieur Bentinck and 
Oreffier, the known partisans of England ; the former 
of whom, immediately after the death of the Prince, 
refused to admit Dubacq to a Council, to which she had 
called him, with the chiefs of the Eepublic, at the House 
in the Wood.f 

A writer on Holland (Sir John Carr) describes the 
wood in which the Royal Palace is situated as two English 
miles long, and three-quarters of a mile broad, containing a 
fine display of magnificent oaks, growing in native luxu- 

* Walpole's " Memoirs of Court of George II.," vol. i. p. 206. 

f Walpole. 

G 



db THE BOYAL PRINCESSES. 

riance. " This wood lias been held sacred with more than 
pagan piety. The Royal residence is to the right, at the 
end of the wood. Upon my asking a Dutchman which 
path led to the ' House in the Wood/ the only appella- 
tion by which, in the time of the Stadtholder, it was 
known, he sharply replied, ' I presume you mean the 
palace in the wood.' This building is merely fit for the 
residence of a country gentleman, and has nothing princely 
about it, except the sentry-boxes at the foot of the night 
of stairs ascending to the grand entrance. Two tall and 
not very perpendicular poles, from the tops of which is 
stretched a cord, suspending in the centre a large lamp, 
stand on each side of the house in front of the palace ; 
on the left are the coach-houses and stablings, which are 
perfectly plain, and are just separated from the court-road 
by a small stunted plantation." 

In this Palace, amongst many other precious works of 
art, was the celebrated picture of King William III., who 
appointed the famous Godfrey Scalken, when he was 
in London, to paint his portrait by candlelight. The 
painter placed a taper in the hands of his Majesty, to hold 
it in a situation most favourable to the designs of the 
artist, during which the tallow melted and dropped on the 
fingers of the monarch, who endured it with great com- 
posure, for fear of embarrassing the painter, who very 
tranquilly continued his work, without offering to pause 
for a minute. This blunt enthusiasm for his art cost poor 
Scalken the favour of the Court, and of persons of fashion ; 
and he retired to the Hague, where he had a prodigious 
demand for his small paintings. 

Anne of England survived her husband seven years, still 
preserving the ambitious spirit by which she had been 
characterized throughout life. Her last public offices were 



ANIS T E OF HAXOVEE. 79 

the preventing a rupture about to break out between Great 
Britain and Holland, in consequence of the m&uy captures 
we had made of their vessels carrying supplies to the 
French settlements.^ With this Princess the " ruling 
passion was strong in death." In her last moments she 
collected her remaining strength to enable herself to sign 
a marriage contract between her daughter and the Prince 
Nassau Walburg, and wrote a letter to the States General, 
requesting their sanction for the match. Such was the 
final effort for family aggrandizement of the Princess Royal 
of England. She died January 2nd, 1759, at the age of 
fifty. The daughter for whom this last effort of expiring 
nature was made, was named Caroline. The late King of 
the Netherlands, son of the Stadtholder, was Anne's 
grandson, son of that Princess. 

* Horace Walpole's " Memoirs." 



a 2 



80 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANORA 

OF HANOVEK, 
SECOND DAUGHTER OF GEORGE II. 

Her birth — Comes to England — Inoculated by Dr. Mead — Letters of 
Countess Pomfret, from Bath — Character of Amelia Sophia — 
Her illness — Drawing-room — Over-fatigues herself — Story of the 
Royal post-bag — Amelia drinks the waters of Bath — Lady Wig- 
town — Match proposed for her — Dukes of Grafton and Newcastle — 
Amelia's opinion of them — Swift's character of Grafton — Duke takes 
too great freedom in his behaviour to the Princess — Card-playing at 
Court — Duke of Cumberland resigns — Princess interferes in politics 
— Does not enjoy the King's confidence — Employed by the Ministry 
— Betrays her brother's secrets to the Queen — Lawsuit respecting 
Richmond Park — Death of the Princess Caroline — Death of Elizabeth 
Caroline and Princess of Orange — Allowance intended for Amelia — 
Does not receive it — Death of the King — His daughter sent for — 
Will of George II. — Conduct of Princess — Lives at Gunnersbury — 
Influence in George III.'s marriage — Her masculine habits — Anec- 
dote of a snuff-box — Presentiment concerning her own death — Dies 
at an advanced age — Buried in Henry VII. 's Chapel. 

This Princess was born on the 10th of June, 1711, and 
accompanied her mother and sisters to England on the 
accession of her grandfather George I. It was Caro- 
line of Anspach who had the courage to adopt the new 
fashion of inoculating for the small-pox in the case of 
her own children. The beneficial effects of this practice 
had been remarked by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu 
when staying in Constantinople ; and, in consequence of 
her report, Dr. Mead was ordered by their Majesties to 
inoculate six criminals under sentence of death, but whose 
lives were spared for this experiment. It proved sue- 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEAtfOEA OE HANOVER. 81 

cessful; and in the following year, 1721, the Princesses 
were inoculated, Amelia Sophia being then at the age of 
eleven. From that time Dr. Mead became physician in 
ordinary to the King. 

There were not many incidents worth recording in the 
earlier part of the time spent in this country by Amelia 
Sophia. The difference which arose between the King and 
the Prince of Wales, his son, occasioned the removal of her 
father and mother from St. James's to Leicester House, 
where from that time their establishment was fixed ; but 
their three eldest daughters continued to reside under the 
same roof as their Royal grandfather, and after the recon- 
ciliation between the King and his son and daughter, the 
Prince and Princess of Wales often visited their children at 
St. James's Palace. The latter might have done so while 
that misunderstanding existed, had she desired it. One 
day, when her Royal Highness was on her way to the 
Palace in a sedan-chair to pay her daughters a visit, one 
of the chairmen used very gross language to her Royal 
Highness, spat at her repeatedly, and uttered treasonable 
expressions against the King. The ruffian was prevented 
doing any violence by being seized and taken before a 
magistrate, when, having the audacity to justify the out- 
rage, he was committed to the Grate-House. # 

At the time of Greorge I.'s death, Frederick, Prince of 
Wales, was in his twenty-first year, the Princess Anne 
in her nineteenth, Princess Amelia in her seventeenth, 
Princess Caroline in her fifteenth year ; Prince William, 
Duke of Cumberland, in his seventh, Princess Mary in her 
fifth, and Louisa in her fourth year. 

On the removal of the new King and Queen to St. 
James's, every apartment was inhabited. " Among the 
* Pyne's " Royal Residences." 



82 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

private letters and printed documents of the times, suffi- 
cient evidence may be found that paternal affection and 
fraternal harmony prevailed beneath the Royal roof during 
some years of the beneficent reign of this amiable King 
and Iris virtuous consort."* 

Mrs. Clayton, afterwards Lady Sundon, had three nieces 
of her own maiden name, Dyves. The three Miss Dyves 
all became attendants on the Princesses — one of them, 
indeed, in the capacity of Maid of Honour. The letters of 
these young ladies to their aunt throw much light on the 
character and habits of their Royal mistresses, as well as 
the customs of the Court of England in the time of 
George II. and Caroline of Anspach.f 

Miss Dorothy Dyves appears to have been appointed 
Maid of Honour to the Princess Amelia. Her sisters, 
Frances and Charlotte, like herself, were indebted for their 
advancement, at a time when their family was in the 
greatest necessity, to the influence of their celebrated 
aunt, the Viscountess Sundon, Mistress of the Robes to 
Caroline of Anspach. 

The following letter from the Maid of Honour to her 
aunt, after receiving her new appointment, has no small 
interest : — 

"Miss Dorothy Dyves to Mrs. Clayton. 

" August 14. 
" I am quite at a loss how to thank my dearest aunt 
for all your great goodness and concern for me when 
I was ill, and which, upon all occasions, I have had the 
vast happiness of always finding the same ; and which 
I am sure nothing can equal but the duty and love I shall 

* Pyne's " Royal Residences." 
f " Memoirs of Lady Sundon." 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEAjSTOBA OF HANOVER. 83 

ever have for my dear aunt. I am sensible that it is my 
advantage, as well as inclination, to follow your advice ; 
and am so thoroughly convinced of its being always right, 
that I have equally a pride and pleasure in being com- 
mended by 3 r ou. I went last Sunday to the Lodge, by 
half an hour after twelve o'clock. Mrs. Neale was in 
waiting, who carried in the message you bade me send. 
The Princess sent for me in immediately ; and though I 
was in a prodigious fright when I went in, the Princess 
was so mighty good to me, that it lessened it very much. 
I was with her, I believe, an hour, and said everything 
you bade me ; which her Eoyal Highness seemed to take 
mighty well of you, and said you were very good to her, 
and commended both you and Uncle Clayton extremely. 
Her Eoyal Highness spoke of you, with regard to me, in 
a manner that I own was an inexpressible pleasure to me 
to hear. The Princess spoke a great deal about my be- 
haviour, and said she should be in the wrong if she did 
hot like mine. This I could not omit saying, as being 
very sensible, that whatever I do right is entirely owing 
to your goodness. I do not mention anything of Monsieur 
Montendre, because he sent a letter himself, which, I sup- 
pose, said what he had done. 

" I am, dear Madam, 
"Your most dutiful niece and humble Servant, 

" D. Dtves. 
" I beg my duty to my uncle." 

In another letter from Richmond, bearing date August 
21st, 1725, Miss Dyves informs Mrs. Clayton — 

"The Prince, and everybody but myself, went last 
Friday to Bartholomew Fair ; it was a fine day, so he 
went by water, and I being afraid, did not go. After the 



S4 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

fair, they supped at the King's Arms, and came home 
about five o'clock in the morning. It is with very great' 
impatience I expect the twelfth of next month, as anybody 
would do that waited for so great a pleasure as I do in 
that of seeing my dearest aunt. The Princess is very good 
to me, and I have great reason to hope she is not dissatis- 
fied with my behaviour ; and I am sure, when I have the 
satisfaction of your approving it (besides an inward joy to 
myself of knowing I am doing right), it is the surest way 
of being thought well of in the world." 

The Countess of Pomfret was one of the Ladies of the 
Bedchamber to Queen Caroline; and her daughter, Lady 
Louisa, who afterwards married the son of Sir William 
Clayton, held the same appointment in the household of 
the Princess Amelia Sophia. 

The character of the Princess Amelia, in these letters, 
forms a pleasing contrast to that given of her by Horace 
Walpole. 

"Countess of Pomfret to Mrs. Clayton. 

" Bath, April 22, 1728. 

'Dear Madam, 

" By your own heart, so sensible of friendship, you 
will easier imagine than I can describe the joy your letter 
gave me. Your kindness is still surprising, though not new, 
and every day gives me fresh occasion to love and value 
you ; yet, in the middle of all this, I must be angry too, 
for I hear you are in waiting. How can you answer it tf> 
yourself, to hazard a life so many others have more interest 
in preserving than yourself? and since you cannot be re- 
covered enough for that, why does not the Queen forbid 
you ? I could fill more paper than I have in the world 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANOEA OF HANOVEE. 85> 

on this subject; but all I can say I natter myself you 
know already, and justice now obliges me to say something 
of my present situation ; what I expected to meet withal, 
you know. Recollect all that has been said to }'ou ; and 
then I will tell you the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth, which T have endeavoured to come at with all the 
capacity I have. 

" The Princess Amelia is the oddest, or at least one of 
the oddest, Princesses that ever was known : she has her 
ears shut to flattery, and her heart open to honesty. She 
has honour, justice, good-nature, sense, wit, resolution, and 
more good qualities than I have time to tell you, so mixed,, 
that (if one is not a diveT) it is impossible to say she has 
too much or too little of any ; yet all these do not, in 
anything (without exception), make her forget the King 
of England's daughter, which dignity she keeps up with 
such an obliging behaviour, that she charms eveiybody. 
Do not believe her complaisance to me makes me say one 
silible more than the rigid truth ; though I confess she 
has gained my heart, and has added one more to the 
number of those few, whose desert forces one's affection. 
All the rest of our affairs I leave to the description of 
others, and only tell you what I thought you liked most 
to hear. 

" I must end this with what is always uppermost in my 
thoughts : how much I ought to be, and how ready I ever 
shall be, to appear, on all occasions, 

" Dearest Mrs. Clayton's 

" Most grateful, faithful, and sincere 
" Friend and Servant, 

"H. Pomeeet.'* 



S6 TIIE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

"Countess Powfret to Mrs. Clayton. 

"Bath, April 27, 1728. 

" It is not the first time (by a great many) that I have 
found dear Mrs. Clayton as a guardian angel ; though I 
do not believe the} r have the same indulgence to habitual, 
or rather natural weaknesses, that you have shown to 
mine. But I will confess the truth : your kind caution 
had very little effect, and I have suffered as bad a fit as 
ever you saw me have, till the Princess frightened me out 
of it by being much out of order all day yesterday, and 
the night before. The occasion was this. She had a 
Drawing-room on Thursday, when it was extremely hot, 
and she (to oblige people) stayed above two hours ; and, 
I believe, would not have gone then (though far from 
well), if I had not ventured to whisper what was o'clock. 
You may be sure I underwent a good deal of uneasiness 
before I took that liberty with a Princess of her age. I 
have told you in my last, in pretty strong terms, what 
she appeared to me. As to myself, I have examined what 
has passed, and hope I cannot be hurt from a fair recital. 
And I am sure you would be charmed to hear her notions 
of friendship, honour, and sincerity — sure, they cannot be 
only repetition. I had another reason to say what I did ; 
which was, to set in your view a lady who is not of the 
same opinion with myself. I could say some things upon 
that subject would surprise you ; but though I could trust 
you with ai^thing and everything, yet I dare not do so 
by the postman. 

" I am impatient to hear from you, and of you (and 
always on your own account first) ; the latter satisfaction 
I had to-day, by Dr. Tisier, who told me Dr. Friend wrote 
him word you were well, though too weak for waiting. 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANOEA OE HAltfOVEE. 87 

Pardon me if I differ from you, when you say you had 
reasons to wait ; I cannot find the least shadow of any, 
when your health is in the "balance. Dear Madam, I fear 
my own pleasure to-day has carried me beyond yours ;' 
which I am sure, for a thousand causes, ought ever to be 
the first consideration of 

" Dearest Mrs. Clayton's 

" Most affectionate and most faithful 

" Friend and humble Servant, 

" H. POMEEET. 

" Since I wrote to you, Princess Amelia tells me the 
Queen has received no letter from me since I came to 
Bath, which surprises me very much ; for I have enclosed 
all to my Lord, and received often, but not always, his 
answers to those letters I enclosed them in. The Princess 
Royal wrote it to her sister, and we both believe the pages 
must have lost them. I know your goodness, without 
my deserving it, will help me in this affair with the 
Queen." 

" The Countess of Pomfret to Mrs. Clayton. 

" Bath, May 6, 1728. 
" Deaeest Madam, 

" Having every post the pleasure to hear by my 
Lord you are well, I might excuse you from the trouble of 
my epistles, if I had not a more than ordinary pleasure in 
telling you how much I love you, and how impatiently I 
wish to see you. Tour kindness, dear Madam, in absence 
or when present, is so constantly the employment of my 
thoughts, that it can produce only esteem and wonder for 
you ; and as all goods have their evils with them, so it is 
my fortune to be for ever obliged, without being able to 



SS THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

make any other return than what is a new obligation to 
accept — fruitless gratitude — and empty, though sincere, 
wishes of happiness to you in all things. 

" I hear from London, that it is said at St. James's I 
have affronted a woman of great qualit} r , by leaving of 
her out in an invitation to play at cards with the Prin- 
cess. I am so altered about vexing myself for trifles, and 
there is in reality so little in this, that till you tell me the 
Queen is displeased, I will not be so about it ; yet, as it 
has an odd appearance in the terms I have put it, have the 
patience to hear the matter of fact, and then judge for 
yourself and me. When the Princess first came down, 
every person of quality (that ever went to Court) both 
sent and came to inquire after her health. In two or 
three days she went to drink the waters ; and between 
every glass walked in Harrison's garden, where all people 
of fashion came and walked with her ; the others (that 
were not known to her) walked at a little distance. The 
third morning Lady Frances Manners asked me if I knew 
my Lady Wigtown* (a Scottish Countess) ; I said I had 
never heard of her in my life, and believed she had not yet 
sent to the Princess ; upon which both she and the 
Duchess of Rutland smiled, and said, 6 No, nor will, I can 

* " The Countess of Wigtown, to whom Lady Pomfret refers in 
tins letter, had an hereditary antipathy to the Hanoverian family. 
She was the Lady Mary Keith, eldest daughter of William, ninth 
Earl Marischal, one of the warmest adherents of the Chevalier James 
Stuart. Her husband, James, sixth Earl of Wigtown, had attended 
James II. at St. Germains, and had afterwards suffered for his 
principles by imprisonment in Edinburgh Castle. Clementina, the 
daughter to whom allusion is here made, became, after the death of 
his lordship's brother, sole heiress of the family estates, the titles 
being extinct in 1747." — Mrs. Thomson's "Life of Viscountess 
Sundon." 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEA^ORA OF HANOTEE. SO 

tell you ; for seeing the Princess coming to trie pump the 
morning before, she had run away like a fury, for fear of 
meeting her ; and declares so public an aversion for the 
King, &c, that she would not go to the ball made on the 
Queen's birthday ; and some of that subscription money 
remaining, the company had another ball, which she de- 
nied going to, and told all the people it was because the 
Queen's money made it.' 

" They laughed much at her open violence, and said she 
would not speak to anyone she thought a Whig ; and had 
a child, called Clementina, who was at this place with 
her. All the company agreed in this discourse ; but while it 
was about, she herself came into the gardens, and walked 
very rudely by the Princess, and pushed away the 
Duchess of Rutland and myself, that was near, and never 
offered to make the least courtesy, for two or three turns, 
and then went out. 

"' After the Princess came home, she told me to send for 
six ladies to play at cards with her, which I did of the 
most considerable at Bath. ISText day, Lady Wigtown 
went to Scotland for her whole life, as it was fixed she 
should long before the Princess came. Xeither the Prin- 
cess nor myself said one word when she passed by in 
that rude manner. This is a long story (as you see, about 
nothing), which I know is your aversion (yet return, as 
usual, good for evil) ; and though I have tired you, find 
out how guilty I am, and clear me. You know if I had 
done anything more I would tell you truly. 

" I hear the Princesses in town are charmed with you, 
but that is common ; here is one would charm you, and to 
so true a taste as yours, that is uncommon. Though you 
hate writing ever so much, send me something of a letter, 
if it be but to forbid me plaguing you any more in this 



90 THE KOYAL PRINCESSES. 

manner ; and let me show you my love by my obedience, 
which in all things is due to dear Mrs. Clayton, from her 
that is 

" Wholly yours, 

"Henrietta Pomfret." 

From the following communication, it would appear 
that the Countess of Pomfret had some idea that her 
attendance on the Princess was not considered satis- 
factory. 

"Countess of Pomfret to Mrs. Clayton. 

"Bath, May 19, 1728. 

" Dear Madam, 

" As I have waited with extreme impatience, so 
I have received with extreme pleasure, this last mark of 
a perfect friendship, "lis my misfortune to be innocent 
without desiring to appear so, for fear of injuring an- 
other. I find that the love of great ones is as fatal as 
their anger. I confess, I have some time been involved 
in discourses I could wish to have avoided ; but there was 
not anything said but what, on my account, Mrs. Howard 
herself might have heard. 'Tis not possible to be with 
the Princess Amelia and not love her — at least, not for 
hearts made like yours and mine ; and 'tis as impossible 
for her not to acknowledge a disinterested love. We both 
wish not to be strangers (as I fear we must be), when 
this journey is at an end ; and, in order to prevent that, 
by making my court too much she may have hurt me. 
I am so certain of her goodness as not to doubt its coming 
about this way; and you know I am not apt to natter 
myself in thinking I am over-fortunate, and if I was that 
way given, this affair must convince me 'tis not in nature 
it ever can be so. 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANOKA OE HA1S T 0YEE. 91 

"Pardon me, dearest Mrs. Clayton, if in that last I 
forgot for a moment the happiness I have in you, which, 
when I reflect on, I own with the utmost gratitude is a 
recompense for all other wants ; and that gives me still 
fresh uneasiness to think what a worthless friend I offer 
you in return for the most agreeable and most deserving- 
one in the world. And you do me justice, dear Madam, 
when you think I am constantly desirous to hear of your 
health, for which I have known more real pain than for 
anything besides. I am very sorry you left the country 
so soon, since you found it did you good ; and though I 
should miss seeing you at my first coming, I could even 
wish, for the sake of a health so truly dear to me, you 
were in the air again for some time. 

" What you say of the Princess's health is adapted so 
to her taste, that I knew I could not make your court 
better to her than by reading those few lines of your 
letter. As to Lansdowne, she • goes in the coach there 
sometimes, and is always better after it, though it is not 
an amusement she is fond of; yet, you may depend upon 
it, I shall put it as forward as I can. Her being in a hot, 
close place long, is impossible ; for she never goes to any, 
except her journey to Bristol, and then the heat of the 
weather and crowds of people altogether disordered her 
very much. I hope I need not tell you that all the pre- 
caution was taken imaginable that there should be no 
danger in her going ; and, as the water was perfectly safe, 
it was certainly more easy and agreeable. Her behaviour 
then, and at all times, has certainly done the King's inte- 
rest a great deal of good in these parts — no longer dis- 
affected. I wish, in your clever way, you would take 
notice of that to the Queen, as you find it proper. 

" There is another thing I must mention to you, and 



*P2 THE BOYAL PRINCESSES. 

that is, concerning- Salisbury ; the people there are in 
great expectation of her, but it is not possible to go and 
come in a day without running too great a hazard of 
making her ill. I know the Bishop's Palace used to be 
generally used for these occasions ; and may be, if the 
Bishop offered it for one night, it might tempt the Queen 
to order an expedition there, which certainly would please 
the country. If }^ou think fit to do anything about this, 
do not let it be thought the Princess's inclination, for she 
has none about it, and the beginning of June is soon 
enough. 

" I give you, dear Madam, a thousand thanks for in- 
quiring after my health ; since you think it worth your 
while, I will tell you, it is better than at any time since 
I have known you, though I do not drink the waters. I 
wish my political constitution was as much mended ; it is 
impossible for anybody to intend better; but how it 
appears at St. James's I do not know, but wish you would 
tell me truly, whether you think, if it was to do again, I 
should be sent. Pardon my inquisitiveness, and, if you 
please, answer me. I have many things to say to you 
that this paper will not hold, nor will my thoughts at 
ibis time admit of many; for once, Mrs. Howard* shares 
them with you, though in my affections you reign alone, 
to whom I am, with gratitude and sincerity, 

" A most unlucky, but most faithful and 

" Affectionate Friend. 

" I had forgot Mrs. Titchborne, but not the thanks I 
owe you on her account ; all she says is an invention from 
the beginning to the end. I could tell many imperti- 

* Subsequently Countess of Suffolk, Mrs. Clayton's rival at Court. 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANOKA OE HA^OYEE. 93 

nences of hers ; but they are below niy fretting at, conse- 
quently much below your reading." 

Queen Caroline was, in her compassion testified towards 
the unfortunate Jacobites, a noble example to her family. 
The conduct of the Princess Amelia, who inherited her 
mother's gentleness of feeling towards the sufferers of that 
party, is both graceful and worthy of a Christian. The 
subjoined letter of Lady Pomfret mentions William, fourth 
Lord Widdrington, in terms of respect : he was one of the 
first to join in the insurrection of 1715 ; he surrendered 
at Preston, and was committed to the Tower. After 
nearly two years' imprisonment, he received his discharge 
under the Act of Grace, and retired to Bath, where he 
remained in great poverty, until his death in 1743. 

a From tlie Countess of Pomfret to Mrs. Clayton. 

" Bath, May 27, 1728. 
" Deaeest Madam, 

u Having troubled you with a long letter last post, 
you will, I believe, wonder upon what pretence I renew 
my importunity so soon ; but I know your good nature too 
well not to be sensible you like to employ it, especially 
for a person that merits it. To my story, then. I must 
tell you, when first the Princess came to Bath, there were 
a great number of Roman Catholics here, and some very 
considerable ones, amongst them the late Lord Widdring- 
ton and his lady ; you know, he was pardoned by the late 
King, and favoured afterwards by the Parliament. Since 
both these things, he has behaved himself with becoming 
respect ; and, for her part, she is a woman well born and 
well bred, and a Protestant. Some time ago, the Prin- 
cess saw me speak to her at the pump, where she was 

n 



94 TIIE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

inquiring how her Royal Highness did ; and then the 
Princess was so obliging as to say a word or two to her, 
which had such an effect upon all of that sort in this city 
that is hardly to be imagined, and they all speak of the 
Princess Amelia as of something that has charmed them 
ever since. Yesterday, in the walks, the same Lady Wid- 
drington came near the Princess, who took much notice of 
her, and she walked some time with us. Mrs. Titchborne 
was by, and much discomposed at it ; from which I feared 
her ingenuity might make a crime of a rebel's wife, that 
did not come to the King and Queen, being so regarded ; 
and that, upon her additions and alterations, the Princess 
might be blamed for that humanity and goodness that is 
the delight of all reasonable people. 

" You see, dear Madam, Mrs. Titchborne has found the 
way to give me terror ; and when I think she can attack 
the Princess Amelia, I can no longer be content only to 
despise her. I know no antidote against malice like your- 
self; and believe me, in serving this Princess, you will 
serve yourself. After we came home I told her my fears, 
and she agreed in them ; upon which I said, ' I knew one 
that had sense and good nature enough to prevent them.' 
She smiled, and said, c Your good friend, Mrs. Clayton. 
You must write to her.' You see, dear Madam, she knows 
you enough to guess your name by your carracter ; though 
I often tell her, and she believes, to know you more, and 
love you more, is the same thing. I shall not wonder 
when this arrives to you ; but I should be much surprised 
if she could ever esteem anybody that makes their approach 
through flattery, and only for interest. In short, if a more 
advanced age and a sharp experience do not quite meta- 
morphose her, her service would be paradise to an honest 
heart. 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEAXOBA OE HANOYER. 95 

u I am sure I have spoke mine so much to you. that if 
I was not quite sure of yours it would be madness ; but to 
trust you, and to be trusted by you, has been, and will 
-ever be, the chief satisfaction of my life, who am entirely 
" Dearest Mrs. Clayton's most faithful, 

" And most affectionate humble Servant, 

" H. POMEEET." 

In another letter, from Tunbridge Wells, bearing date 
June 30th, 1728, is the following passage : — " By all I can 
find of my own affairs, that person we suspected* has left 
nothing unsaid of any sort that can injure me, in every 
place where I can feel it worst ; and it is from you I only 
can know how far it has prevailed. I find the concern I 
showed at Richmond is turned on me as a sure proof I 
was guilty of all that could be said ; and the belief that I 
am much happier in the Princess's favour than I am is so 
fixed, that I fear they will not quit me till I am entirely 
destroyed with the Queen. I endeavour to be, or rather 
appear, easy in this situation, that I may not give fresh 
occasions of complaint at Court, or disturbance to the Prin- 
cess, whose charming disposition ought to meet with 
nothing but happiness. "f 

In December, 1736, George II., returning to England, 
had to encounter a storm in which he nearly lost his life. 
Although foreseen by Sir Charles Wager, commander of 
the fleet which conveyed him, the King had ordered him 
to sail. So great danger was the Royal vessel in, that the 
news reached the Court, and created such an alarm that 
the Cabinet Council met at the Duke of Devonshire's, and 
preparation was made for proclaiming the Prince of Wales. 
Her Majesty and the Royal family were attending Divine 

* This allusion is to Mrs. Titchborne. 
f "Lady Sundon's Memoirs," by Mrs. Thomson. 

h2 



96 THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

service at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, when a messenger 
brought a letter, announcing the happy tidings of his Ma- 
jesty's sate return to Helvoetsluys. The trembling Queen 
could scarcely open the welcome missive ; to shorten her 
suspense, the Duke of Grafton broke the seal, read the 
contents, and announced "his Majesty was safe!" The 
suddenness of this occurrence had suspended the service, 
but on the immediate circulation of the joyful news it was 
resumed with becoming decorum. 

The Princess Amelia, in answer to a letter from Mr. 
Walpole, who was in the storm with his Majesty, thus 
describes the feelings of the Queen, of herself, and her 
sisters, at this momentous period : — 

" You have been very good and obliging, my good Mr. 
Walpole, to take the trouble of writing to me ; and I 
assure you, my joy is too great to be expressed, that you 
are all safe at Helvoet. What mamma underwent ever 
since Friday last, can't be imagined — for she never was 
easy since she heard that the sloop of the English secre- 
tary's office was come here with so much difficulty, and 
that they had left you all at sea. But on Sunday morn- 
ing, before nine, Sir Robert came to mamma, to give her 
the dreadful account of the three men-of-war being come, 
and Lord Augustus's ship, without masts or sails — then 
you may imagine what we all felt. We went to church 
as usual, and about two the messenger came in, and made- 
not only mamma and her children happy, but indeed e very- 
bod}'. The consternation was great before, and they 
seemed all to dread to hear some bad news. But now pray 
be careful, and don't get out till you are sure of seeing 
our sweet faces, and then we will all make you as welcome 
as we can ; for I cannot afford any more to be so fright- 
ened, for we are all still half dead. 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEA^OKA OE HANOVEB. 97 

" I pitied poor Mrs. Walpole extremely ; but I saw her 
yesterday-, and we thanked God heartily together that you 
are all safe. Sir Eobert hath been very childish, for he 
drank more than he should upon i?he arrival of the mes- 
senger, and felt something of the gout that same night ; 
but he is perfectly well again. I hunted with him yester- 
day at Eichmond, and he was in excellent spirits. 

" I thank you, dear Horace, for letting me know so 
exactly how my sister does — I am very happy she is so 
well. Mamma commands me to make you her compli- 
ments ; Caroline desires hers to be given you also ; and I 
remain jonr sincere friend upon land, but hate you at sea 
— for you take my stomach and rest away, and I lose both 
eating and sleeping." * 

It is now necessary to speak of a circumstance which 
has already been dwelt on in the Life of Sophia Dorothea 
of Prussia ; it is one of no small importance, as it involved 
the happiness of an amiable Princess, and certainly acted 
with no small impulse on the destinies of Europe. I 
speak of the marriage contracted, or sought to be con- 
tracted; between the parents of Frederic the Great 
of Prussia and Amelia, second daughter of George II. 
The desire of the children of George I. that the Eoyal 
families of England and Prussia should be united had 
been so great, that the union was proposed when the in- 
tended bridegroom and his destined wife were yet in their 
cradles. Marriages are, however, said to be " made in 
heaven ;" and certainly there is " a tide " in their accom- 
plishment. Amelia was not intended for Frederic the 
Great, but she certainly was worthy to become his wife. 
The fact of the child being brought up under the im- 
pression that she was one day to be so, accounts for much 
* Pyne's " Eoyal Residences." 



98 TIIE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

of the eccentricity afterwards developed in her character. 
After endless negotiations on the subject from the Electo- 
rate of Hanover, carried on through the reign of George I. 
into that of his son, George II,, the match was finally 
broken off, and the heroic and high-minded Frederic 
doomed to accept a Princess of his father's choice, in lieu 
of her to whom his heart seems to have been thoroughly 
devoted. What was the result ? A marriage, not of in- 
clination, brought to his bride a futurity devoid of domes- 
tic happiness ; to Frederic, a determination to devote 
himself from that time forth to martial exploits, and the 
welfare of his people : himself self-sacrificed by his own 
act, though under the parental influence. Amelia of 
Hanover, who must have through her long life been des- 
tined from time to time to learn more and more of 
the greatness and nobleness of one separated from her for 
ever, became changed in heart, and her actions changed, 
too, as the sources from whence they sprang. She never 
married, consequently had no domestic ties beyond her 
parents, and her brothers and sisters, the companions of 
her early years. The character of Amelia has been 
severely animadverted upon by historians for several points 
in it, which had been probably the result of the circum- 
stances in which she was placed by her altered prospects. 
She is said to have had a great love of politics, and 
a perpetual desire to mingle herself up with them. Were 
not her feelings interested in the questions which involved 
the destinies of Europe ? Walpole taxes this Princess 
with being voluntarily the only spy in the service of the 
Ministry, and with having traced and unravelled the 
mystery of a new faction at Leicester House. In his 
Memoirs, he gives this character of Amelia : — " She was 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANOKA OE HAKOVER. 99 

meanly inquisitive into what did not relate to her,* and 
foolishly communicative of what was helow her to know; 
false, without trying to please; mischievous, with more 
design ; impertinent, even where she had no resentment ; 
and insolent, though she had lost her "beauty, and acquired 
no power." The writer of this passage should have 
looked deeper into the woman's heart ; he did not under- 
stand how far these apparent meannesses had been the 
result of disappointed affection. 

Frederick Prince of Wales had contracted certain debts 
at Hanover, where he had remained after the accession of 
his grandfather to the crown of England, in order to com- 
plete his education. His mother had exerted more autho- 
rity over him in respect to these than the Prince liked ; 
and Princess Amelia, who had possessed his confidence 
more than any other person had, out of what she regarded 
her duty to the Queen, informed her upon such matters as 
the Prince himself conceived might be injurious to him, 
and into which Caroline of Anspach inquired minutely. 
By this action she lost her brother's confidence, however 
well-intentioned it might have been, in the wish to obey 
her mother. Neither was she permitted to share her 
father's confidence ; and though disposed to interfere in 
politics, .was restricted to receiving court from the Duke of 
Newcastle, who affected to be in love with her ; and from 
the Duke of Grafton, who was thought to have been a 
favoured lover.f Lord Hervey, who had secured for himself 
the affections of the Princess Caroline, and the Duke of 
Grafton, the professed lover of Amelia, filled the Court 
with their continual quarrels and avowed dislikes. Upon 

* Perhaps fancying it did, or might, relate to her. 
f Burke's " Anecdotes of the Aristocracy." 



TOO THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

the Duke of Grafton — mentioned by Lord Hervey in his 
Letters — Swift makes the following observations : # — " The 
Duke of Grafton, grandson to Charles II., a very pretty 
gentleman, has been much abroad in the world, jealous for 
the constitution of his country ; a tall, black man, about 
twenty-five years of age ; almost a slobberer, and without 
one good quality." 

The Queen is said to have entertained a rooted dislike 
to the Duke of Grafton, for the freedom with which he 
had behaved towards Princess Amelia. They are said to 
have hunted together two or three times a week ; and on 
one occasion, having stayed out unusually late and lost their 
attendants, had gone together to a private house in 
Windsor Forest, which so exasperated the Queen, that, 
but for Sir Robert Walpole, she would have complained to 
his Majesty .f 

" When Caroline of Anspach died, the Duke of Grafton 
disputed with the Duke of Newcastle as to which of them 
should become in power, they both agreeing that Sir 
Robert Walpole, who was present, was no longer to con- 
tinue in office." Walpole says they both founded their 
hopes on the favour of the Princess Amelia, but she 
detached herself from that cabal, and united herself with 
her brother the Duke, and the Bedfords. Her Lady of 
the Bedchamber, Lady Elizabeth Leveson Grower, one of 
the Duchess's sisters, had contracted a marriage with 
-Colonel Waldegrave, without the consent of her father, 
Lord Gower, through the Bedfords, and Lord Sandwich 
imprudently allowed the ceremony to be performed in his 
apartments at the Admiralty. Lord. Gower, instigated by 
the Pelhams, formally complained to the King of Lord 

* Swift's " Character of Queen Anne." 
f Walpole. 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEAXORA OP HAXOYEE. 101 

Sandwich contributing to steal his daughter. His Ma- 
jesty espoused the quarrel of the complainant, by which 
manoeuvre the Pelhams " detached him from his family, 
and persuaded him that to resign with them would be 
sacrificing himself in the cause of Lord Sandwich, who 
had offered him such an indignity. " # 

Amelia was of a very decided disposition, and at times 
as imperious as her sister Anne of Hanover. Beau Nash, 
master of the ceremonies at Bath, ventured on one occasion 
openly to withstand her wishes. The hour appointed for 
dancing to cease in the public rooms was eleven, and the 
Princess happening that evening to be present, though the 
hour had struck and he had given his usual signal to arrest 
the music, she intimated to him that it was her desire 
there should be another country dance. There was no 
alternative for Nash, and the Princess carried her point. 

In another instance she exhibited no little despotism 
and determination of character. 

The Princess had the Bangership of Pichmond Park, 
but kept the park closed from the public, who demanded a 
right of passage through it. This Amelia refused to 
grant, and had a lawsuit instituted against her. The 
verdict was unfavourable to her wishes. t By advice of the 
Attorney-General, she had allowed ladders over the wall in 
hopes of escaping a trial, but the people sued for gates for 
foot passengers, and in the year 1758 obtained them, on 
which the Princess in a passion entirely abandoned the 
park. Her mother, Queen Caroline, had formerly wished 

* "Walpole. 
f In one of the hearings on this cause, Lord Mansfield, the Chief 
Justice, produced in court a libel published against Princess Emily, 
and insisted that the jury should take an oath that they had no hand 
in it ; and yet, when they had taken the oath, he put off the cause ! 



102 TIIE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

to shut up St. James's Park, and asked Sir Kobert Wal- 
pole what it would cost her to do it. He replied, " Only 
a crown, Madam !"* 

Princess Amelia gave offence not in one, but many cases, 
as regarded the access to the park. 

In 1752, Walpole writes — " Princess Emily, who suc- 
ceeded my brother in the Eangership of Eichmond Park, 
has imitated her brother William's unpopularity, and dis- 
obliged the whole country, by refusal of tickets, and liber- 
ties that had always been allowed. They are at law w T ith 
her, and have printed in the Evening Post a strong 
memorial, which she had refused to receive. The High 
Sheriff of Surrey, to whom she had denied a ticket, but 
on better thought had sent one, refused it, and said he 
had taken his part. Lord Brooke, who had applied for 
one, was told he couldn't have one ; and, to add to the 
affront, it was signified that the Princess had refused one 
to my Lord Chancellor. Your old nobility don't under- 
stand such comparisons. But the most remarkable event 
happened to her about three weeks ago. One Mr. Bird, a 
rich gentleman near the Palace, was applied to by the late 
Queen for a piece of ground that lay convenient for a 
walk she was making. He replied, that it was not proper 
for him to pretend to make a Queen a present, but if she 
would do what she pleased with the ground, he would be 
content with the acknowledgment of a key and two bucks 
a year. This was religiously observed till the era of her 
Royal Highness's reign. The bucks were denied, and he 
himself once shut, out, on pretence it was fence-month, 
(the breeding time, when tickets used to be excluded, keys 
never) . The Princess was soon after going through his 
grounds to town. She found a padlock on his gate. She 
* Walpole's "Memoirs of George II." 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEA1N T 0KA OF HANOYEE. 10S 

ordered it to be broken open. Mr. Shaw, her deputy, 
begged a respite, till he could go for the key. He found 
Mr. Bird at home. ' Lord, Sir, here is a strange mistake, 
the Princess is at the gate and it is padlocked V ' Mistake ! 
no mistake at all. I made the road. The ground is my 
own property. Her Royal Highness has thought fit to 
break the agreement which her Royal mother made with 
me ; nobody goes through my grounds but those I choose 
should.' 5 ' 

His Highness the Prince of Orange, on the occasion of 
his marriage, remained several months in England, and 
frequently visited the Princess Anne, his intended bride, at 
St. James's. One night in the winter of the preceding year, 
his Highness, then keeping his Court at Somerset House, 
went incognito to the apartments in St. James's, and 
played at cards for several hours with the Prince of 
Wales, the Princess Royal, and her sisters, the Princesses 
Amelia and Caroline. The Palace^was very gay on these 
occasions, his Majestjr frequently condescending to be a 
party to these evening amusements. # 

After the Queen's death, the King had private parties 
at cards every night, from nine to eleven, in the apart- 
ment of the Princesses Amelia and Caroline, to which 
only the most favourite lords and ladies of the Court 
were invited, and some of the King's Grooms of the Bed- 
chamber. 

It was at Kensington Palace that the King and the 
Duke of Cumberland met in the apartment of the Princess- 
Amelia, of which Walpole w T rites in these words : — 

" Two messengers were despatched to recal the Duke, 
and, October 12th, he arrived at Kensington. It was in 
the evening, and he retired to his own apartment, where 
* Pyne. 



104 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Mr. Fox and Ids servants were attending. He thanked 
Mr. Fox for being there, and said — ' You see me well, 
•both in body and mind. I have written orders in my 
pocket for everything I did.' He afterwards said, his 
orders had been so strong, that he had not expected to 
obtain such good conditions. He then dismissed Fox, 
saying he would send for him again.. The shortness of 
this interview, he afterwards told Mr. Fox, had proceeded 
from his determination of seeing nobody alone who could 
be supposed to advise him, till he had taken the step he- 
meditated. At nine, the hour the King punctually 
goes to play in the apartment of the Princess Amelia, the 
Duke went to her. The King, who was there, and 
had ordered the Princess not to leave them alone, received 
him with extreme coldness ; and when his Royal Highness 
went afterwards into the other room where the King was 
at cards, his Majesty said aloud, ' Here is my son, who 
has ruined me, and disgraced himself;' and, unless this was 
speaking to him, spoke not a word. At eleven, when the 
cards were over, the Duke went down to Lady Yarmouth, 
and told her the King had left him but one favour to ask, 
which he was come to solicit by her interposition, as he 
wished to make it as little disagreeable to the King as 
possible ; it was to desire leave to resign everything, the 
post of Captain- General, and his regiment. The Countess 
was in great concern at the request, and said, ' Pray, Sir, 
don't determine this at once.' He replied, ' He begged 
her pardon, he was not come for advice ; he had had time 
to think, and was determined.' ' Then, Sir,' said she, ' I 
have nothing left but to obey.' " 

Walpole relates a scene which occurred at Princess 
Amelia's loo-table, in December, 1762 ; she was then in 
her fiftieth year. He says — " On Thursday I was sum- 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANOEA OF HANOVER. 105 

moned to the Princess Emily's # loo. Loo, she called it \ 
dolitics it was. The second thing she said to me was, 
' How were you the two long days V 6 Madam, I was 
only there the first.' 'And how did you vote?' 'Ma- 
clam, I went away.' c Upon my word, that was carving 
well.' Not a very pleasant apostrophe to one who cer- 
tainly never was a time-server. Well, we sat down. She 
said, c I hear Wilkinson is turned out, and that Sir Edward 
Winnington is to have his place. Who is he ?' addressing 
herself to me, who sat over against her. c He is the late 
Mr. Winnington's heir, Madam.' ' Did you like that 
Winnington ?' ' I can't hut say I did, Madam.' She 
shrugged up her shoulders, and continued — ' Winnington 
was originally a great Tory. What do you think he was 
when he died ?' ' Madam, I believe what all people are in 
place.' c Pray, Mr. Montagu, do you perceive anything 
rude or offensive in this ?' Here, then, she flew into the 
most outrageous passion, coloured like scarlet, and said — 
i None of your wit ; I don't understand joking on these 
subjects. What do you think your father would have said 
if he had heard you say so ? He would have murdered 
you, and you would have deserved it.' I was quite con- 
founded and amazed. It was impossible to explain myself 
across a table, as she is so deaf. There was no making 
a reply to a woman and a Princess, and particularly for 
me, who have made it a rule, when I must converse with 
Koyalties, to treat them with the greatest respect, since it 
is all the court they will ever have from me. I said to 
those on each side of me, c What can I do ? I cannot ex- 
plain myself now.' Well, I held my peace, and so did 
she, for a quarter of an hour. Then she began with me 
again, examined me upon the whole debate, and at last 
* Amelia — or Emily, as the name is sometimes written. 



10(5 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

asked me directly which I thought the best speaker, my 
father or Mr. Pitt ? If possible, this was more distressing 
than her anger. I replied, ' It was impossible to compare 
two men so different ; that I believed my father was more 
a man of business than Mr. Pitt.' ' Well, but Mr. Pitt's 
language ?' ' Madam, I have always been remarkable for 
admiring Mr. Pitt's language.' At last the unpleasant 
scene ended ; but as we were going away I went close to 
her, and said, c Madam, I must beg leave to explain myself. 
Your Royal Highness has seemed to be very angry with 
me, and I am sure I did not mean to offend you ; all that I 
intended to say was, that I supposed Tories were Whigs 
when they got places.' ' Oh,' said she, ' I am very much 
obliged to you. Indeed, I was very angry.' Why she 
was angry, or what she thought I meant, I do not know 
to this moment, unless she supposed that I would have 
hinted that the Duke of Newcastle and the Opposition 
were not men of consummate virtue, and had lost their 
places out of principle. The very reverse was at that 
time in my head, for I meant that the Tories would be just 
as loyal as the Whigs when they got anything by it." 

The Duke of Newcastle appeared for the last time in a 
political light in 1767. He was then at the age of seventy- 
four, and at the beginning of the ensuing year his life was 
in great danger. Recovering in some degree, he notified his 
determination to give up politics by letter to Princess 
Amelia, Lord Rockingham, and others, for he could not 
quit folly but in a foolish manner. 

" Age and feebleness at length wore out that busy pas- 
sion for intrigue, which power had not been able to satiate, 
nor disgrace correct. He languished near ten months 
longer, and died November 17th, 1768." * 
* Walpole. 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANOEA OF HANOYEE. 107 

The name of Amelia has been associated with another 
transaction of a more painful nature, the condemnation of 
Mr. Byng. Walpole writes — " It was the uniformity of 
Mr. Byng's behaviour, from the outset of his persecution 
to his catastrophe, from whence I conclude that he was 
aspersed as unjustly as I am sure that he was devoted 
maliciously, and put to death contrary to all equity and 

precedent Many years after that tragedy was acted 

I received a most authentic and shocking confirmation of 
the justice of my suspicions. 

" Oct. 21, 1783, being with her Royal Highness Princess 
Amelia at her villa, at Grunnersbury, among many in- 
teresting anecdotes w T hich I have set down in another 
place, she told me, that while Admiral Byng's affair was 
depending, the Duchess of Newcastle sent Lady Sophia 
Egerton to her, the Princess, to beg her to be for the 
execution of Admiral Byng. ' They thought,' added the 
Princess, c that unless he was put to death Lord Anson 
could not be at the head of the Admiralty. Indeed,' 
continued the Princess, c I was already for it ; the officers 
would never have fought if he had not been executed.' I 
replied, that I thought his death most unjust, and the 
sentence a most absurd contradiction. 

" Lady Sophia Egerton was wife of a clergyman, after- 
wards Bishop of Durham. What a complication of horrors ! 
Women employed on a job for blood !"* 

Gunnersbury House, in Ealing parish, Middlesex, was 
purchased in 1761 for Princess Amelia, and after her death, 
in 1788, it was sold and pulled down. It was originally 
built, in 1663, by Webb, a pupil of Inigo Jones, for the 
celebrated Sergeant Maynard. The neat villa, which was 

* Walpole. — The editor of Walpole thought more importance at- 
tached to mere gossip than it deserved. 



10S THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

erected on the site of the dwelling formerly tenanted by 
Royalty, for Alexander Copeland, Esq., was surrounded by 
extensive and ornamental pleasure-grounds, comprising 
about seventy acres. There are two fine sheets of water 
and many beautiful cedars, which are supposed to have 
been planted by Kent, who laid out the grounds, about 
17-10 ; the forcing-houses and pinery are on a very exten- 
sive scale. 

Amelia was residing at Gunnersbury on one occasion 
when a fire occurred, by which four rooms were burnt. 
Intimation of what had occurred was given to her Eoyal 
Highness through the servants, with the remark, " Do not 
be frightened, Madam !" which only increased her alarm ; 
but on learning the exact truth, she remarked com- 
posedly — " I am very glad ! I had expectation my brother 
was dead!" alluding to her favourite brother the Duke of 
Cumberland, whose health had long been in a very pre- 
carious state. 

Amelia survived her mother, her sisters, Louisa, Anne, 
and Caroline, and was destined to witness the last mo- 
ments of her father, George II. 

The death of the King is thus described by Walpole : 
— " On the 25th of October he rose as usual at six, and 
drank his chocolate ; for all his actions were invariably 
methodic. A quarter after seven he went into a little 
closet. His German valet de cliamhre in waiting heard a 
noise, and running in, found the King dead on the floor. 
In falling he had cut his face against the corner of a 
bureau. He was laid on a bed and blooded, but not a 
drop followed; the ventricle of his heart had burst. 
Princess Amelia was called, and told the King wanted her. 
She went immediately, and thought him in a fit. Being 
deaf herself, she saw nothing in the chamber that indi- 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANOEA OP HANOYEE. 109 

€ated his being dead ; and putting her face close to his, 
to hear if he spoke to her, she then first perceived he was 
lifeless." 

Princess Amelia, as soon as she was certain of her 
father's death, sent an account of it to the Prince of 
Wales, but he had already been apprised of it.* 

■ ■ After George II.'s death Mr. Pitt was the first who 
arrived at Kensington, and went to Princess Amelia for 
her orders. She told him nobody could give him better 
counsel than his own. He asked if he ought not to go 
to the Prince ? She replied, she could not advise him, 
but thought it would be right. He went." Walpole adds, 
" I mention these little circumstances because they show, 
from Mr. Pitt's uncertainty, that he was possessed with 
none of the confidence and ardour of a man who thinks 
himself a favourite." 

The new King (George III.) sent to Princess Amelia 
to know where her father's will was deposited. She said, 
one copy had been entrusted to her eight or nine years 
before ; but thinking the King had forgotten it, she had 
lately put him in mind of it. He had replied, " Did not 
she know, that when a new will was made it cancelled all 
preceding?" No curiosity, no eagerness, no haste, was 
expressed by the new King on that head • nor the smallest 
impediment thrown in the way of his grandfather's inten- 
tions. A gentleman of the bedchamber was immediately 
dismissed who refused to sit up with the body, as is usual. 
Wilmot and Eanby, the late King's physician and surgeon, 
acquainted the King with two requests of their master, 
which were punctually complied with. They were, that 
his body might be embalmed as soon as possible, and a 
double quantity of perfumes used ; and that the side of 
* Walpole's " George III." 
I 



110 THE EOTAL PEIKCESSES. 

the late Queen's coffin, left loose on purpose, might be 
taken away, and his body laid close to hers.* 

By his will, George II. gave 50,0Q0Z. among his three 
surviving children, the Duke, Princess Amelia, and Mary, 
Princess of Hesse. This will was the one which had 
been placed in the hands of the Princess Amelia. The 
annual revenue of this Princess was 12,000Z.f 

George I. had left two wills ; one in the hands of Dr. 
Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury, the other with the Duke 
of Wolfenbuttel. The Archbishop, on news of the King's 
death, carried his copy to the Privy Council, and, without 
the precaution of opening it before them, which the poor 
man could not apprehend would be so necessary as it 
proved, gave it into the new King's hands, who, to the 
prelate's great surprise, carried it from the Council un- 
opened. The fate of the other copy appears by a letter 
from the Duke of Newcastle to the first Earl of Waldegrave, 
" in which his Grace informed the Earl, that he had re- 
ceived by the messenger the copy of the will and codicil of 
George I., that he had delivered it to his Majesty, who 
put it into the fire without opening it ; so," adds the Duke, 
" we do not know whether it confirms the other dr not." 
And he proceeds to say, " I despatch a messenger to the 
Duke of Wolfenbuttel with the treaty, in which is granted 
all he desires ; and we expect, by the return of the mes- 
senger, the original will from him." So that the " honest 
Duke of Wolfenbuttel sold it for a subsidy." J 

Amelia's life was prolonged to a very advanced age. 
She had been born at Hanover during the reign of Queen 
Anne, and she witnessed ihe reigns of George I. and 
George II., and part of that of George III., her nephew. 

* Walpole's " George III." 
f Walpole. | Ibid. 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANOBA OP HANOVER. Ill 

She assisted at the baptism of the second son of Queen 
Charlotte, wife of George, to whom she stood sponsor. 
The baptism of the young Prince took place September 
14th, 1763, in the Council Chamber of St. James's Palace, 
a little after seven in the evening. The procession began 
in the following order : — The Lady Augusta, the King's 
sister, led by Prince William, Princess Louisa by Prince 
Henry, Princess Caroline Matilda by Prince Frederick, 
and the Princess Amelia led by the Duke of Cumberland. 
Afterwards came the nobility, according to their rank. 
The State bed on which the Queen reposed was of rich 
crimson velvet, adorned with gold fringe, and lined with 
white satin. - The counterpane of lace alone cost 3780Z. 
The sponsors were the Duke of York and the Duke of 
Saxe Gotha by their proxies, the Earl of Huntingdon and 
Earl Gower. The Princess Amelia stood herself in person. 
The Eoyal boy was named by her Frederick. 

The masculine turn of this Princess's mind was denoted 
by her dress and manners : she was most commonly attired 
in a riding-habit in the German fashion, with a round hat. 
Her especial delight was to attend to her stables, and she 
made a point of this whenever the horses were out of 
order. She rose early, and drank her coffee or chocolate 
standing, walking about the room while she did so. She 
took snuff immoderately, and had a great fondness for 
cards. 'One day, at Bath, being in the public rooms, a 
general officer seeing her box stand upon the table, took the 
freedom to help himself to a pinch — a liberty the Princess 
could not for a moment brook. On perceiving what had 
passed, she called to her servant, and ordered him to throw 
the contents into the fire ! 

For many years before her death the Princess led a very 
retired life, maintaining the strictest privacy. Walpole 
12 



112 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

says : — " After her father's death she lived with great dig- 
nity, but, being entirely slighted by her nephew, who was 
afraid of her frankness, she soon forbore going to Court, 
or to keep a Drawing-room herself, on pretence of her in- 
creased deafness. She was extremely deaf and very short- 
sighted, yet had so much quickness and conception that 
she seemed to hear and see more readily than others. She 
was an excellent mistress to her servants, steady to her 
favourites, and nobly generous and charitable." 

A story is told of George IV., when a young man, 
driving Lord Clermont in an open landau in the neigh- 
bourhood of Windsor, the then residence of the aged 
Princess Amelia Sophia. His lordship, the weather be- 
ing cold, was wrapped up in a thick white great coat, to 
which a woollen hood was attached, which he had drawn 
over his head. Everybody who passed by imagined it to 
be the Princess, and exclamations were made on the 
charming trait of amiability in this young Prince, who 
did not mind taking out his deaf old aunt, wrapped up in 
flannels as she might be, in order to give her a drive ! 

One day when the Princess was at Gunnersbury, in 
June, 1786, Walpole, then bordering on his seventieth 
year, having borrowed a dress-coat and sword for the oc- 
casion, dined with her, in company with the Prince of 
Wales, Prince of Mecklenburg, Duke of Portland, Lord 
Clanbrassil, Lord and Lady Clermont, Lord and Lady 
Southampton, Lord Pelham, and Mrs. Howe. Some of 
the party had retired early, others sat up playing com- 
merce till ten. " I am afraid I was tired," says Horace. 
The Princess asked him for some verses on Gunnersbury. 
" I pleaded being superannuated. She would not excuse 
me. I promised she should have an ode on her next birth- 
day, which diverted the Prince; but all would not do. 



AMELIA SOPHIA ELEANOKA OP HANOVER. 113 

So, as I came home, I made — some stanzas not worth 
quoting, and sent them to her breakfast next morning." 

Four months afterwards Amelia Sophia died, on the 1st 
of October, at her house in Cavendish-square, at the corner 
of Harley-street. She was nearly seventy-six years of 
age, and the last surviving offspring of George II. and 
Queen Caroline. It is not a little remarkable that the 
Princess had always entertained a presentiment that her 
death would occur in October ; it being the month in which 
not only her father had died, but also her favourite bro- 
ther, the Duke of Cumberland, had been carried off by apo- 
plexy, and even on the same day of the month ! 

The remains of Amelia Sophia were privately interred 
on the 11th of November, in the Royal vault in Henry 
VII. 's Chapel, at Westminster. 



114 



CAEOLINE ELIZABETH 

OF HANOVEB, 
THIRD DAUGHTER OF GEORGE II. 

Birth of Caroline Elizabeth — Comes to England — First drive in 
public — Queen's offer to the poet Gay — Swift's satire — Princess 
inoculated — Her amiable character- — Love of truth — Choice of an 
attendant for her — Court gossip — Unhappy attachment — Character 
of Lord Hervey — The Duke of Grafton — Antipathy between them 
— Letters from Lord Hervey to Mrs. Clayton — His talents — Death 
— Caroline her mother's favourite — Queen's prediction about her 
daughter — Caroline's indifference to life — Retires into seclusion 
on the death of Lord Hervey — Her kindness to his children — Her 
singular love of seclusion — Her charities— Death and Will — King 
refuses to confirm her allowance to Princess Amelia — Walpole's 
testimonial to Caroline — A loss to the country — Mortality in the 
Royal Family. 

The little Princess Caroline Elizabeth, third daughter of 
George II., was a native of Hanover, and born May 31, 
1713. On the accession of her grandfather to the English 
throne, she accompanied her mother, Caroline, Princess of 
Wales, and the Princesses Anne and Amelia, her eldest 
sisters, to this country. Two days after her arrival, she 
took her first drive in public, as the historian has minutely 
recorded. It is also stated that Caroline of Anspach, 
having expressed a desire to do honour to the poet Gay, 
offered him the post of Gentleman-Usher to her third 
daughter, Caroline — a circumstance on which Swift was 
bitterly satirical : " as if Gay would be willing to act as a 
male nurse to a little girl of two years of age!" 

The young Princess was, with her sister, inoculated by 



CAEOLIIS'E ELIZABETH OE HA^OVEK. 115 

Dr. Mead, according to the usage which had just been 
brought into fashion. 

Caroline Elizabeth was not only one of the best, but 
loveliest of the daughters of George II. Her superiority 
is attested by Horace Walpole, who was slow in eulogizing 
anybody, and then seldom without detraction : by him 
she is called one of the most excellent of women. 

From infancy her superior mental acquirements were 
perceptible, but these were more than eclipsed by those 
far more desirable qualities of the heart : — " She was of a 
genius and disposition equally to be admired and loved ; 
formed to be the delight and honour of a Court ; possessed 
of an uncommon wit, tempered with judgment and re- 
strained by modesty ; for ever cheerful and the cause of 
cheerfulness ; excellent in all female accomplishments, and 
eminent particularly for her skill and taste in music ; but, 
more than all, distinguished by her goodness." 

Caroline, in the midst of a home divided by discord, 
was equally devoted and obedient to both her Royal pa- 
rents ; they seem to have returned her affection with 
unabated tenderness during their whole lives. These 
fond, proud parents were accustomed to say, when any 
disagreement took place among their children, " Send for 
Caroline, and then we shall know the truth I" Conse- 
quently, the Princess obtained the name of " the truth- 
telling Caroline Elizabeth" — an honourable epithet, 
applied in early history to King Alfred the Great, and 
which is far more worthy of remembrance than all the 
laurels of victory or achievements of the mind in either. 

A letter, addressed to Mrs. Clayton by the Countess of 
Pembroke, recommends the eldest daughter of James, 
fifth Earl of Salisbury, as an attendant for the Princess 
Caroline. 



11G THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

" Saturday Morning-. 

"Dear Madam, 

" I have thought of one this morning, that is, 
Lady Anne Cecil, Lord Salisbury's sister. I never saw 
her, but have heard her extremely commended for a very 
sober, discreet young woman. I know nothing, whether 
she will leave her mother, or no. She dined, I know, in 
town with her cousin, young Mrs. Southwell, last week ; 
but, perhaps, you may think of objections to this that I 
do not recollect ; for the other you named last night, she 
is a relation, and I never heard a fault she had ; but, to 
speak freely and impartially, I fancy, if you were to see 
her again, you would think her too low and girlish. The 
Princess Caroline is considerably taller. But your judg- 
ment is so excellent in every degree, that I should not 
have named or thought of mine if you had not com- 
manded it, as you have a right, dear Madam, to do every- 
thing that belongs to, 

" Your most obliged and faithful 

" Humble Servant, 

"M. Pembroke." 

The fair, amiable, and accomplished Caroline was born 
to do good to others, not to reap in this world happiness 
for herself; on the contrary, she is a remarkable instance 
of the absence of it when in possession of all the gifts of 
fortune, youth, health, eminent beauty, high station, and 
attractive manners ; amiable and virtuous as she was, she 
was the victim of an unfortunate attachment which had 
taken too deep a root to be eradicated. The vanity or 
ambition of John, Lord Hervey of Iokworth, had induced 
him to create an interest in this fair young creature, which 
terminated only with her existence. 



CABOLIJS T E ELIZABETH OF HAIS'OYEE. 11? 

This remarkable nobleman is said to have been even for- 
bidding in person and disagreeable in his manners, yet to 
have concentrated in himself every fascination and error of 
the most accomplished courtier. He possessed such supe- 
rior attainments, joined to such vivacity, i-aiu so great a 
power of varying his subjects of conversation, that he was 
esteemed the greatest ornament of the select circle of 
Queen Caroline, and the Court was dull to a degree, almost 
intolerable, without his presence. He was born in 1696, 
and at the age of eighteen, " before he had taken his bache- 
lor's degree in Cambridge, was appointed one of the 
Gentlemen of the Bedchamber" to George II., then only 
Prince of Wales. The Eoyal favour thus early extended 
to him, he succeeded in retaining till his death, preserving 
the regard of the Queen undiminished, which, however, he 
repaid by exciting in his behalf the hopeless attachment 
of Princess Caroline. "Between Lord Hervey and the 
Duke of Grafton there was a mortal antipathy, and the 
Court rang with the quarrels of the favourites of the two 
Princesses ; but Lord Hervey, who, as Horace Walpole 
says, ' handled all the weapons of a Court,' supported by 
Sir Robert Walpole, to whom he paid great homage, re- 
tained his ascendancy over the Queen. 5 '* 

The Duke of Grafton, being the favoured lover of Prin- 
cess Amelia, created much, dissension between the two 
nobles, and "the sneering terms" in which Lord Hervey 
writes of the Duke, are explained by their frequent quarrels 
and avowed dislikes. 

It is indeed a matter of no small surprise that Hervey 

should have obtained the name of " Handsome Hervey," if 

we credit all that is written of him personally. He is 

said to have suffered so much from epilepsy, that he was 

* " Memoirs of Lady Sundon.' 



118 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

compelled to use emetics daily, and to restrict himself to 
a certain regimen, of which asses' milk formed a part : also 
to have painted his face to conceal its ghastly appearance ; 
so that even Pope ridiculed him with malignant acrimony, 
under the appellation of Sporus, and Lord Young termed 
him " a thing of silk" — a mere white curd of asses' milk — 
and a painted child of dirt ! Notwithstanding all these 
drawbacks, Lord Hervey possessed an insinuating deport- 
ment and sprightly disposition, with undeniable wit — in 
fact, he appears to have been, in all points, the " ladies' 
man," and thus not only carried off the beautiful Mary 
Lepel, in 1720, one of the loveliest women of the Court, 
but secured an irrevocable interest in the heart of the un- 
fortunate daughter of his Sovereign. As her affection was 
utterly hopeless, Hervey being married to the " Brigadier's 
daughter," she consoled herself by eventually protecting 
his children. 

The character of this man, who so firmly fixed his foot- 
ing in the favour of mother and daughter, is best appre- 
ciated by some of his letters, which throw a light on the 
Court of George and Caroline. 

The following is addressed by Lord Hervey to Mrs. 
Clayton : — 

" St. James's, July 14, 1733. 
" Madam, 

"I fear you will think me both unreasonable 

and absurd, in making use of the privilege you gave 

me to trouble your servants as a plea for troubling 

you ; but it was quite impracticable for me to have taken 

possession of your house at Kew, upon the obliging 

offer you made me of a room there, without acquainting 

you that I had done so, and thanking you for the 

authority to do it. 



CAROLINE ELIZABETH OE HANOVER. 119 

" The Court removes on Monday, after dinner, to 
Hampton Court, so that I shall no longer be obliged to 
lead the disagreeable stage-coachman's life which I have 
done during their stay at Richmond, and I assure you I 
have so little of the itinerant fashionable taste of many of 
my acquaintance, that 1 look on this negative pleasure of 
fixing with no small comfort. It has often been matter 
of the utmost astonishment to me what satisfaction it can 
be to those people whom I see perpetually going from 
place to place (as others walk backwards and forwards in 
a room), from no other motive but merely going; for the 
first seem no more to prefer one corner of the world to 
another than the last do this or that end of the room ; 
and the only way I can account for it is, that feeling an 
absolute cessation of thought, they keep their limbs in 
motion, as their last resource, to prevent their next heir 
seeing them decently interred. 

" I have often thought the actions of these breathing 
machines are to the body just what dreaming is to the 
mind : as the one shows the limbs can act whilst thought 
is asleep ; and the other, that our thoughts are not always 
at rest when our limbs are so. I fear you will think my 
pen moves to as little purpose as the first of these, and as 
incoherently as the last : I am sure it is with as little 
design as either ; for when I began my letter, all I in- 
tended was to tell you I had lain a night at Kew, and was 
obliged to you for the permission to do so. 

" However, notwithstanding the impertinent flippancy 
of writing three pages to say three words, if I knew any 
facts to entertain you with, I would launch out afresh, 
but there is nobody in town to furnish, invent, or relate 
any ; and at Court I need not tell you, Madam, that be- 
tween the people who cannot say anything worth repeat- 



120 THE KOTAL PRINCESSES. 

ing, and the people who will not, one seldom hears any- 
thing one cares to hear, more seldom what one cares to 
retain, and most seldom of all, what one should care to 
have said. 

" If I can do you any service in this part of the world, 
you cannot oblige me more than by honouring me with 
your commands. 

" I am, Madam, 
" Your most obliged, most obedient Servant, 

" Heryey. 

" I beg my compliments to Miss Dyves and Mr. 

Clayton." 

The man who could address himself thus to please in a 
situation which required such absolute waste of time, and 
so deliberately talk upon nothing, was one who could not 
fail of success. Here is another specimen of the style of 
this nobleman : — 

" Lord Hervey to Mrs. Clayton. 

" Hampton Court, July 31, 1733. 

" Madam, 

" I am going this afternoon, with the Duke of 
Richmond, to Goodwood, for three or four days ; but can- 
not leave this place without returning you my thanks for 
the favour of your letter ; a debt, perhaps, you would be 
more ready to forgive than receive ; but as it is of that 
sort that one pays more for one's own sake than one's 
creditor's, I plead no merit from the discharge of it, but 
the pleasure of taking any occasion to assure you how 
much I am your humble servant. 

" I will not trouble you with any account of our occu- 



CAEOLINE ELIZABETH OF HANOVEH. 121 

pations at Hampton Court. No mill-horse ever went in 
a more constant track, or a more unchanging circle ; so 
that, by the assistance of an almanac for the day of the 
week, and a watch for the hour of the day, you may in- 
form yourself fully, without any other intelligence but 
your memory, of every transaction within the verge of 
the Court. Walking, chaises, levees, and audiences fill the 
morning; at night the King plays at commerce and 
backgammon, and the Queen at quadrille, where poor 
Lady Charlotte runs her usual nightly gauntlet — the 
Queen pulling her hood, Mr. Schutz sputtering in her face, 
and the Princess Eoyal rapping her knuckles, all at a 
time. It was in vain she fled from persecution for her 
religion : she suffers for her pride what she escaped for her 
faith ; undergoes in a drawing-room what she dreaded from 
the Inquisition, and will die a martyr to a Court, though 
not to a Church. 

" The Duke of Grafton takes his nightly opiate of 
lottery, and sleeps as usual between the Princesses Amelia 
and Caroline. Lord Grantham strolls from one room to 
another (as Dry den says) c like some discontented ghost 
that oft appears, and is forbid to speak;' and stirs himself 
about, as people stir a fire, not with any design, but in 
hopes to make it burn brisker, which his lordship con- 
stantly does to no purpose, and yet tries as constantly as 
if it had ever once succeeded. At last the King comes 
up, the pool finishes, and everybody has their dismission ; 
their Majesties retire to Lady Charlotte and my Lord 
Lifford ; the Princesses to Bilderbec and Lony ; my Lord 
Grantham to Lady Frances and Mr. Clark; some to 
supper, and some to bed; and thus (to speak in the 
Scripture phrase) the evening and the morning make 
the day. 



122 THE EOYAL PKINCESSES. 

"Adieu, clear Madam, and believe me, without the 
formality of a conclusion, 

" Most sincerely yours, 

" Heevey." 

Lord Hervey wrote many political pamphlets, esteemed 
by Horace Walpole equal to any ever written. Many of 
his productions Dodsley published after his death, his 
" Memoirs from his first coming to Court till the Death 
of the Queen" excepted. " To his classical erudition 
Dr. Middleton has left a tribute, in his Dedication to 
the c Life of Tully,' to which work Lord Hervey con- 
tributed the translations of some of the passages from 
Cicero. " # George II. having heard of his poetical effu- 
sions, said — " My Lord Hervey, you ought not to write 
verses ; it is beneath your rank ; leave such work to little 
Mr. Pope." 

Lord Hervey " displayed much skill as a pamphleteer, 
wrote several pleasing little poems, and retorted on Pope 
with considerable success in a ' Poetical Epistle from a 
Nobleman to a Doctor of Divinity.' He died on the 
8th of August, 1743." 

The Princess Caroline had been the favourite of the 
Queen, who preferred her understanding to those of all her 
other daughters, and whose partiality she returned with 
duty, affection, gratitude, and concern. Being in ill health 
at the time of her mother's death, the Queen told her she 
would follow her in less than a year. The Princess received 
the notice as a prophecy ; and though she lived many years 
after it had proved a vain one, she quitted the world, and 
persevered in the closest retreat, and in constant and re- 
ligious preparation for the grave ; a moment she so eagerly 
* " Memoirs of Lady Sundon." 



CABOLIFE ELIZABETH OE BAKOTEE. 123 

desired that, when something was once proposed to her to 
which she was averse, she said — " I would not do it to 
die!" 

To this impression of melancholy had contributed the loss 
of Lord Hervey, for whom she had conceived an unalterable 
passion, constantly marked afterwards by all kind and 
generous offices to his children, in which she persevered 
from the time of his death, as though her regard for him 
had been transferred to them. 

For many years she was totally an invalid, and shut 
herself up in two chambers in the inner part of St. James's, 
from whence she could not see a single object. In this 
monastic retirement, with no company but that of the King, 
the Duke, Princess Amelia, and a few of the most intimate 
of the Court, she led not an unblameable life only, but a 
meritorious one ; her whole income was dispensed between 
generosity and charity ; and till her death, by shutting up 
the current, discovered the source, the gaols of London did 
not suspect that the best support of their wretched in- 
habitants was issued from the Palace. 

" From the last Sunday to the Wednesday on which she 
died, she declined seeing her family ; and when the morti- 
fication began and the pain ceased, she said — " I feared I 
should not have died of this !"* 

The Princess's will is remarkable for its brevity and 
simplicity. 

" I leave my sister Amelia all I have in possession, 
and make her my sole executrix, excepting these few 
legacies : — To my dear sister Anne an enamelled case, 
and two bottles of the same sort; to my dear sister, 

* Walpole's "Memoirs," of which this portion was finished August 
8th, 1759. 



124 TIIE EOYAL PEINCESSES. 

Mary, my emerald set with diamonds and the brilliant 
drops hanging- to it, and my ruby ring with the Queen's 
hair ; to my dear sister Louisa my diamond ear-rings, and 
all my rings ; to my brother William my enamelled 
watch. This is my last will, writ with my own hand. 

" Caboline." 

According to Walpole, "the King, on the death of 
Princess Caroline, had voluntarily promised to continue 
her allowance to Princess Amelia, who handsomely engaged 
to pay the same pensions and the same grants to the per- 
sons that her sister Caroline had done. She had even 
desired to impart a large portion of it to her sister Mary, 
of Hesse ; but the King, while the vapour of munificence 
lasted, said he should take care of Mary. In a month's 
time the Duke of Newcastle was sent in form to notify to 
Princess Amelia that the King retracted his promise, and 
should not continue to her the allowance of Princess 
Caroline." The same author, writing of the death of Prin- 
cess Caroline, daughter of George II., says, " that though 
her state of health had been so dangerous for years, and her 
absolute confinement for many of them, her disorder was, 
in a manner, new and sudden, and her death unexpected 
by herself, though earnestly her wish. Her goodness was 
constant and uniform, her generosity immense, her cha- 
rities most extensive ; in short, I, no Royalist, could be 
lavish in her praise. What will divert you is, that the 
Duke of Norfolk's and the Duke of Northumberland's 
upper servants have asked leave to put themselves in 
mourning, not out of regard for this admirable Princess, 
but to be more sur le Ion ton. I told the Duchess I sup- 
posed they would expect her to mourn hereafter for their 
relations." 



CAKOLINE ELIZABETH OF HAKOVEB. 125 

That the grief felt for the loss of Caroline Elizabeth 
was unaffected there can be no doubt. She was a dear 
and amiable companion to her nearest relatives, an obe- 
dient daughter to the King, and an ornament and blessing 
to her country. She died in the beginning of the year 
1757, at the age of forty-five ; her sister Anne, and her 
niece, daughter of Frederick, died in 1759, and George II. 
on October 24, 1760. So great a havoc in the Royal 
family had been made by the destroying hand of death in 
the brief space of three years. 



126 

MARY OF ENGLAND, 

LANDGRAVINE OF HESSE CASSEL, 

FOURTH DAUGHTER OF GEORGE II. 

Princess Mary, fourth daughter of George II., and first who was born 
in England — Born 1723 — Married at the age of eighteen — Resem 
blance to her mother — Amiable character. — Prince Frederick of 
Hesse Cassel, born in 1720 — Marburg and Geneva, places where 
he had been educated — His preceptors, M. de Donep and M. de 
Cronzaz — Character and acquirements — History of the Prince's 
family — Particulars respecting the district over which they ruled — 
Marries Mary in 1740 — The Prince of Hesse changes to the 
Catholic faith — His brutal temper — Unkindness to his wife — Her 
father-in-law protects her — His ill-treatment — Restrictions imposed 
on himself by the Elector and States — Rumours of the Princess's 
broken health reach England — Death of her husband. — Mary writes 
to congratulate her niece, Caroline Matilda, on her marriage — The 
answer — The Queen of Denmark writes another letter — Mary 
declines interfering in her troubles — Death of Mary — News con- 
veyed to England — Her three sons — Her will — Descendants of Mary. 

Pehs"CESS Maky was the first daughter of Caroline of 
Anspach who was born in this country, and could really 
be called an Englishwoman; her three elder sisters were 
natives of Hanover, and accompanied their mother to 
this country on the accession of their grandfather, 
George I., to the throne. Mary, who has been termed the 
" gentlest of her illustrious race," first saw the light on 
the 22nd of February, 1723, and before she completed her 
eighteenth year, was united to Frederick, Prince of Hesse 
Cassel, A.i). 1740. 

A contemporary historian has given the following de- 
scription of this fair daughter of England, her narents' 
adopted country, 



MABT OF ENGLAND. 127 

"The Princess Mary, future consort to his Serene 
Highness, is fourth daughter to King G-eorge II. of Great 
Britain, and now in the seventeenth year of her age. We 
say all that can be said of an accomplished character when we 
observe that she was educated by the late Queen Caroline, 
and that she takes after her august parent in everything 
that is good. In particular, she is a lover of reading, and 
far more solicitous to improve the mind than to adorn the 
body. So that her Eoyal Highness will, in all appearance, 
be a worthy successor to the Landgravines of Hesse Cassel, 
and still preserve all the virtues for which they were so 
eminently conspicuous in this illustrious Protestant house." 

" His Serene Highness was born on the 2nd of August 
(tf.s.), 1720. He was called after his uncle, the King of 
Sweden. He has had his education partly at Marburg, 
the University of the Landgraveate, and partly at Geneva, 
where solid learning and virtue are taught together. The 
Prince has had for governor M. Donep, colonel of the 
regiment of horse under his Highness — he is a gentleman 
of great merit; and for preceptor, the celebrated M. de 
Cronzaz ; but the fickleness and restless temper of that 
learned man not suffering him to continue long in one place 
and business, the Prince has been very little beholden to 
him for any part of his education.* 

" The Prince has made considerable progress in the sciences, 
particularly philosophy, history, geography, and the art 
military ; and besides the learned languages, is well versed 
in the Italian, French, and English To the advan- 
tages of an excellent education is to be added that of great 
examples. If the Prince copies after his great and good 
ancestors, which he is very likely to do, he will support 

* " Memoirs of the House and Dominions of Hesse Cassel." Pub- 
lished 1740. 

K 2 



128 THE EOTAL PEINCESSES. 

the honour of his house, and make the happiness of perhaps 
more than one people he will be called to govern. He 
sustained a great loss by the death of his grandfather, 
Charles, in his nonage. To a solid piety, good sense, and 
magnanimity — the characteristics of his house — that great 
Prince added the culture of the fine arts, and a love for 
learned men. He beautified his capital with several fine 
structures, and useful inventions for the convenience of the 
inhabitants. He gave great encouragement to the French 
Protestants to come and settle with him, in order to im- 
prove the native riches of the country by manufactures of 
all kinds. He heartily joined his good offices to those of 
King George I. of Great Britain, the King of Prussia, and 
the States General, to reconcile Protestants among them- 
selves. Generous, munificent, he smiled upon the Muses, 
by whom he was beloved, and gave a great lustre to the 
University of Marburg, and other inferior seminaries in his 
dominions." 

Frederick, Prince of Hesse, is by others said to have 
possessed naturally " a brutal temperament," and that his 
bad temper increased after his changing his faith from Pro- 
testantism to Catholicism, a change which subjected him to 
many political restrictions. Walpole mentions that the 
English King had received the unwelcome news of his son- 
in-law having "turned Papist," whom he describes as "a 
brutal German, obstinate, of no genius ;" and adds, that 
" after long treating Princess Mary, who was the mildest and 
gentlest of her race, with great inhumanity, he had for some 
time lived upon no terms with her; his father, the Landgrave 
William, protected her; an arbitrary, artful man, of no 
reputation for integrity." # 

" The Hereditary Prince (Mary's husband) was devoted 
* " Memoirs of the Keign of George II." 



MAEY OF ENGLAND. 129 

to France and Prussia. It was not an age when conver- 
sions were common, nor were his morals strict enough to 
countenance any pretence to scruples ; it was necessary to 
recur to private or political reasons for his change ; and 
from what has been said, it appears in what numbers they 
presented themselves. Yet even the King of Prussia acted 
with zeal for the Protestant cause. The Landgrave was as 
outrageous as if he felt for it too. No obstructions being 
offered by the Catholic Powers, the Landgrave and States, 
with the concurrence of the King, enacted heavy restric- 
tions on the Prince, whenever he should succeed his 
father."* 

Princess Mary having congratulated her niece, Caroline 
Matilda of England, on her intended union with the King 
of Denmark, her cousin, and whose mother, Princess Louisa 
of England, was a sister of Mary, received from her the 
following letter in acknowledgment : — 

"To her Royal Highness the Princess Mary of Hesse 
Cassel. 
" Madam and good Aunt, 

" I give your Eoyal Highness my most sincere 
thanks for your congratulation upon my approaching mar- 
riage ; but really I do not know whether we are not rather 
objects of pity than envy, when we are politically matched 
with princes whom we never saw, and who may not, perhaps, 
find in us those charms which, if real, are too often eclipsed 
by the beauties of a Court set off with national partiality. I 
am sensible of the honour his Majesty of Denmark has done 
me, by singling me out among so many amiable princesses 
perhaps more worthy of his choice ; but my youth and in- 
experience make me apprehensive of not filling the highest 
* Walpole's " Memoirs of the Reign of George II." 



130 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

station of a kingdom according to the expectations of sub- 
jects who seldom think themselves obliged to us for the 
little good we do, and always impute to us part of their 
grievances. However, as my scruples will not in the least 
avail, I shall do my best to please the King, and to con- 
ciliate the affections of his subjects. I am glad that this 
alliance is an additional affinity to your Eoyal Highness, of 
whom I am 

" The loving niece, 

" Caroline." 

Queen Caroline Matilda, for political reasons, being un- 
willing to acquaint her family in England with the daily 
slights and mortifications she received from the King and 
her stepmother Juliana, addressed a letter to the Princess 
Mary of Hesse Cassel, to tell her of the grief and vexation 
she was enduring, judging by her consanguinity with the 
King of Denmark, and the marriage of her sons with his 
Majesty's sisters, that she would be a fit person to interfere 
in her own behalf. 

The following is an exact copy of this sensible and 
moving letter from the injured niece to her aunt : — 

" Copenhagen, March 22, 1769. 

" Madam and good Aunt, 

" You are not unacquainted with the arts, devices, 
and aspiring views of the Queen Dowager, who seems bent 
on undermining the Royal authority, the exercise of which 
she assumes solely to herself; and after having made the 
King contemptible to his subjects, in availing herself of 
his weakness to give a sanction to the most flagrant acts 
of violence, injustice, and oppression, that bad, wicked 
woman has forfeited all claims to the sentiments of for- 



MABY OF ENGLAND. 131 

giveness and moderation I have too long manifested, in 
opposition to censure, insolence, and obloquy, by her last 
most injurious and false aspersions on my reputation, and 
the dignity of a reigning queen. I am amazed at the 
King's torpor and insensibility. If any person of my at- 
tendance shows a laudable zeal for my service, or a respect- 
ful attachment to my person, it is reputed a crime, and 
punished with Royal displeasure and dismission. Some 
reasons, dictated by prudence, have prevented me from 
troubling the King, my brother, on this disagreeable sub- 
ject, as he might, perhaps, think it highly improper to 
interfere in grievances which he has no right to redress. 
I have applied to your known benevolence to do me the 
kind office of advising me, that I may bring the King to a 
sense of his wrongs and his injustice. Would you take 
upon yourself, as far as it is consistent with your discre- 
tion, to assist me in such a perplexing situation, I could 
never sufficiently acknowledge your friendly interposition 
to restore the peace of mind of 

" Your affectionate 

" Caboline." 

" The Princess Mary begged the Queen, her niece, would 
excuse her from taking any part in these Royal feuds, which, 
instead of producing the desired effects, might perhaps sti- 
mulate her rival's vengeance to offer her Majesty some new 
affronts and indignities. She expressed, at the same time, 
a great concern for her troubles and anxiety, hoping her 
Majesty's good sense and conduct would confound the vile 
imputations of Juliana, and make the King sensible of his 
errors. " # 

Frederick of Hesse's inhumanity towards his submissive 

* "Memoirs of an Unfortunate Queen." 



132 THE BOYAL PRINCESSES. 

and uncomplaining wife had nearly broken her gentle heart. 
From time to time various reports reached her English home 
of her failing health, and liability to consumption ; but an 
interposing Providence watched over Mary's destiny, and 
by relieving her from her tyrant effected her cure. During 
her widowhood she enjoyed a tranquillity to which in early 
life she had been utterly a stranger. She died on the 14th 
of June, 1772, at the age of sixty-nine. A journal of the 
time (dated June 25th) announces the arrival in England 
of Monsieur Koch, Secretary to his Serene Highness the 
Hereditary Prince of Hesse Cassel, with the melancholy 
intelligence of the death of this universally lamented 
Princess. 

Mary of England had three sons by her marriage with 
the Prince of Hesse — George, who succeeded his father as 
Elector, Charles, and Frederick. By her will the Dowager 
Electress gave all her estates to her two younger children, 
except " annuities to all her servants, equal to the wages 
given, until they marry, or get places where more wages 
are given than the annuities." She appointed Lord Har- 
court and Lord Berkeley her executors. 

The descendants of Mary were, by her son George Wil- 
liam, Elector of Hesse Cassel — two sons, William and 
Frederick ; and two daughters, Caroline and Mary Louisa. 

By Charles of Hesse, her second child, she had Frede- 
rick and Christian ; Mary, Julia, and Louisa Mary. His 
eldest daughter became Queen of Denmark, and mother of 
Caroline and Wilhelmina of Denmark. 

Frederick of Hesse, third son of Mary of England, and 
youngest of George II. 's grandsons, had three sons — Wil- 
liam, Frederick, and George ; his daughters were Louisa, 
Mary, and Augusta. 



133 



LOUISA OF ENGLAND, 

QUEEN OF DENMABK, 
YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF GEORGE II. 

Her birth — Resemblance in character and fate to her mother, Queen 
Caroline — Prophetic address of the Queen on her death-bed — 
Marries Frederic V., King of Denmark — Instance of her resolution 
— Her death, and farewell letter to her family — Affliction of the 
King of England — Death and character of Frederic V. — Patron of 
Niebuhr — Christian, son of Louisa of England, becomes King — 
Sacrificed by his stepmother — Louisa's three daughters. 

Two RoyalPrincesses of the house of Hanover have worn the 
crown-matrimonial of Denmark. To both it proved a crown 
of thorns — of grief, of care, and sorrow — though not equally 
so in both instances. The first of these illustrious women, 
destined by an unhappy fate to end her days in the flower 
of her age in a foreign land, was Louisa, the youngest 
daughter of George II. and Caroline of Anspach ; the 
second was the wife of Louisa's son, that Caroline Matilda 
of Zell, daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales, who was 
celebrated alike for her heroism and misfortunes. 

Mary and Louisa, the two English-born daughters of 
George II., were nearly of an age, and therefore must have 
been excellent companions. There was but a year and ten 
months difference between them : Mary was born on the 
22nd of February, 1723, Louisa on the 7th of December, 
1724. Their ages at the time of their mother's death were 
about fourteen and thirteen. The mother's heart generally 
fixes itself on the youngest of her little family group, and 



134 THE EOTAI, FBItfCESSES. 

in the case of Caroline of Anspach we find it was even 
so ; that her love amounted even to idolatry for the gifted 
and beautiful Louisa. Little did the good Queen foresee 
the fate of that beloved child, or how similar it would 
prove to her own ! Yet so it was : the mother's misfor- 
tunes were inherited by the daughter, together with her 
talents, and, indeed, also her heroism. 

Louisa of England possessed a spirit, sense, and forti- 
tude which could only be equalled by those with which 
Caroline of Anspach was endowed ; and it was her destiny 
to be snatched from the world while yet in the flower of 
her age. Was it the penetration of character possessed 
by Caroline which made her utter on her death-bed to 
this favourite child, whom with her sister Mary, when 
she bade them farewell for ever, she consigned to the arms 
of the truth-loving Caroline Elizabeth, " Louisa, remember 
I die by being giddy and obstinate, in having kept my 
disorder a secret." The spirit of prophecy seems to have 
hovered upon the lips of the dying Queen when she gave 
utterance to this remark, for Louisa's death was the very 
counterpart of her own. 

Louisa was united to Frederick V., King of Denmark, 
in 1743. Her husband, to whom she bore four children, 
was passionately attached to her ; but equally unwilling to 
have it supposed his wife, young and lovely as she was, 
could exercise any influence over him, kept a mistress to 
contradict the truth in the eyes of the world. The Queen, 
who inherited her mother's lofty spirit, was too high- 
minded to betray how deeply she felt this conduct. When, 
as a young and admired bride, she had quitted England, 
followed by the heartfelt prayers and wishes of an adoring 
people for her happiness, she had announced to her brother 
the famous Duke of Cumberland, her determination never 



LOUISA OP ENGLAND. 135 

to complain to her family, whatever might be her sorrows 
in a foreign land. She kept her word : whatever she felt 
of grief or anxiety at her husband's infidelity, was care- 
fully confined to her own bosom. While suffering the 
greatest possible uneasiness of mind, she never mentioned 
the circumstance in her most confidential letters to her 
friends at home ; a state of things in which her married 
life greatly resembled that of Queen Caroline of Anspach, 
who, surrounded at sundry times by the worthless asso- 
ciates of G-eorge II., never betrayed in the smallest degree 
the weakness of a woman's jealousy, but maintained her 
own pre-eminence triumphantly to the last. 

In her dying moments, Louisa wrote a moving farewell 
letter to the King her father, the Duke of Cumberland, 
then her only surviving brother, and her sisters, to all of 
whom she seems to have been affectionately attached. 
Her death, the resemblance of which to her mother's end 
was so striking, was caused by a slight rupture, which she 
concealed, and which had been produced by her stooping 
when seven months advanced in pregnancy with her 
first child. After undergoing an operation w T hich lasted 
more than an hour, with heroic firmness, this amiable 
Princess expired, in the twenty-seventh year of her age, 
a.d. 1751, to the inexpressible regret of her family and 
friends. 

George II. was indeed so afflicted with his daughter's 
letter, and so forcibly struck with the extraordinary re- 
semblance between her fate and that of his wife, that he 
broke forth into passionate exclamations of tenderness. 
He said, " This has been a fatal year to my family. I 
lost my eldest — but I am glad of it ; then the Prince of 
Orange died, and left everything in confusion. Poor little 
Edward has been cut open for an imposthume in his side ; 



136 THE BOTAL PRINCESSES. 

and now the Queen of Denmark is gone. I know I did 
not love my children when they were young ; I hated to 
have them running into my room ; but now I love them 
as well as most fathers." # 

King Frederick V. died in the forty-second year of his 
age, after a twenty years' reign. Walpole calls him "a 
Prince good and beloved, void of any fault but that Northern 
vice, drunkenness ;" and says, "he had governed his small 
kingdom with prudence and ability, and shown both spirit 
and firmness in the manner in which he met the prepara- 
tions made by Peter III. for invading Denmark in 1762. 
He has the honour of having employed the talented 
Niebuhr on that celebrated expedition to the East, of 
which the latter has left so interesting a description. "f 

Louisa, Queen of Denmark, had one son, Christian ; who 
might have turned out a very different character, had his 
mother lived to superintend his education. He succeeded 
his father on the throne, and became the husband of Caro- 
line Matilda of England, his cousin — whose misfortunes, 
as well as his own, had their foundation in the artful 
policy of the Queen Eegent, Juliana Maria, whom the 
late King had married after Louisa's death, and who aimed 
at obtaining the crown for her own offspring, to the ex- 
clusion of the children and grandchildren of the former 
marriage. 

Louisa left three daughters. Sophia of Denmark, the 
eldest, became Queen of Sweden, by her marriage with the 
unfortunate Gustavus III., by whom she became mother 
of " the scarcely less fortunate Gustavus, whose opposition 
to Napoleon led to his dethronement, to give place to 
Bernadotte ; and whose eccentricities, under the assumed 

* Walpole's " Memoirs." 
f Walpole's " Memoirs of George III." 



LOUISA OF ENGLAND. 137 

title of Count Gottorp, are well known to the European 
public."* Wilhelmina marrying her cousin, the son of 
Princess Mary of England, became Electress of Hesse 
Cassel. This Prince of Hesse Cassel was famous for 
supplying mercenaries to all the sovereigns of Europe, as 
well as the United States of North America.f Louisa, 
the youngest, espoused his brother, Prince Charles, of 
Hesse Cassel. 

* " Private Anecdotes of Foreign Courts." f Ibid. 



138 



AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OF BRUNSWICK, 

ELDEST DAUGHTEK OF FREDEKICK, 
PRINCE OF WALES 

Augusta, eldest daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales — Her parents 
— Her birth — "Lucky month" of the House of Brunswick — Chris- 
tening of the babe — Called " Lady Augusta " — Early precocity — 
Family of Princess of Wales — Picture of her children — Theatricals 
at Leicester House — Death of Frederick — King's, visit to his 
widow — Reception of Queen Charlotte — Coronation of King and 
Queen — Civic feast — Amusing incident — Queen's ball — Duke of 
Brunswick offers to marry the Princess — Accepted — Message 
to Parliament from the King — Dowry voted — Prince comes over 
— Marriage takes place — Compliments of the nobility — Rich 
presents to the bride — Duke visits public places in London — 
Visits Mr. Pitt — Queen's birthday — Ball given — Departure for 
the Continent — Their route — Arrival at Brunswick — Entertain- 
ments given on the occasion — Revisits England — Baptism of 
William, afterwards "the Fourth" — Augusta one of the sponsors 
— Death of the Duke of Cumberland— Royal English dukes accom- 
pany Duke of Brunswick to the Court of Frederic the Great — 
Marriage of Caroline — Birth of her daughter — Death of the Duke 
of Brunswick — His family — Duchess's opinion of Queen Caroline's 
misfortunes — Granddaughter visits her — Interview with the aged 
King — Address from the City — Allowance granted her — House in 
Hanover Square taken for her — Her death and funeral. 

The records preserved of Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick, 
become even more interesting than they would other- 
wise have been, from the fact of her being mother of the 
unfortunate Caroline, Queen of George IV., and grand- 
mother to Charlotte Augusta of Wales — that Princess in 
whom, though for a brief period of years only, the hopes 
of the whole nation rested. 

Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, eldest son of George 



AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OF BRUNSWICK. 139 

II., was united in the year 1736 to Augusta, daughter of 
Frederick II., Duke of Saxe Gotha. Augusta, their first 
child, subject of this memoir, was born in the following 
year, August 1st, 1737. The month of August has been 
declared auspicious to the House of Brunswick. On 
August 1st, 1714, George I. obtained the throne of Great 
Britain. It was the month of August in which were born 
Frederick, King of Bohemia, and his wife Elizabeth, 
daughter of James I., from whom George I. derived his 
title to the crown. Both Queen Adelaide and George IY. 
were born in the month of August ; and, singularly 
enough, it was on the 1st of August that Prince Ferdi- 
nand of Brunswick, the future husband of the Princess 
Augusta, fought and obtained the glorious victory at 
Minden over the French. 

The Prince, who had long deported himself disrespect- 
fully to his Royal parents, without the most distant inti- 
mation of his intention to their Majesties, hurried his 
wife, who was evidently near her accouchement, at eight 
o'clock in the evening, from the Palace of Hampton 
Court to St. James's, where, at eleven o'clock, she was 
delivered of a Princess. At half-past ten his Eoyal 
Highness sent a page to Hampton Court to mention the 
state of the Princess to their Majesties, whose surprise 
and consternation at this news induced the Queen to leave 
Hampton Court in the middle of the night, and set off 
for St. James's, where she did not arrive until , four 
o'clock. Her Majesty was accompanied by the Duke of 
Grafton, Lord Hervey, and several Ladies of the Bed- 
chamber. After remaining about two hours at St. James's, 
the Queen returned to Hampton Court. The conduct of 
the Prince of Wales on this occasion caused a serious 
breach between himself and his Eoyal parents. 



140 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

On the 29th of August, at eight o'clock in the evening, 
the young Princess was baptized by the name of Augusta, 
by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The King and Queen, 
and the Duchess Dowager of Saxe Gotha, were sponsors 
by proxy. 

The Eoyal infant was in a magnificent cradle, elevated 
on steps beneath a canopy of state, and was afterwards 
laid in the nurse's lap, upon a rich cushion embroidered 
with silver. The Princess of Wales had on an exceedingly 
rich stomacher, adorned with jewels, and sat upon her bed 
of state, with the pillows richly adorned with fine lace 
embroidered with silver. The Prince of Wales was pre- 
sent, and richly dressed, attended by the Lords of his 
Bedchamber. 

The font and flagons for the ceremony were those that 
had been used for Royal christenings for many centuries, 
and were brought from the Tower. 

The Prince of Wales signified his pleasure that his eldest 
daughter should not be addressed by the title of Royal 
Highness, but simply " Lady;" she is therefore usually 
styled the " Lady Augusta." 

A comical incident is related of the Royal child at the 
age of six years. In 1743, when there was a reception at 
Leicester House, and the children of the Prince and Prin- 
cess of Wales were present, some one addressed Sir Robert 
Peel as " Sir Robert." Augusta, thinking the person ad- 
dressed must be Sir Robert Walpole^n up to the nobleman, 
and looking up at him inquired — " Pray, where is your blue 
string ? and pray what has become of your fat belly ?" 
This elegant incident is recorded in the letters of Walpole, 
and on that account, perhaps, rather than its own merit, 
deserves insertion. 

The Princess of Wales had five sons, of whom George 



ArGTISTA, DUCHESS OP BETJNSWICE-. 141 

III. was the eldest. The names of the others were Edward, 
Duke of York, William, Duke of Gloucester, Henry, Duke 
of Cumberland, and Frederick : her first-born child was the 
Lady Augusta ; she had besides her, Elizabeth, Louisa, and 
Caroline Matilda, afterwards Queen of Denmark, who was 
a posthumous child ; her father, Frederick, died before her 
birth, in 1751 * 

In the cube room, Kensington Palace, is a picture of his 
late Majesty George III. and his brother Edward, Duke 
of York, when young, shooting at a target ; the Duke of 
Gloucester in petticoats ; Princess Augusta, nursing the 
Duke of Cumberland, and Princess Louisa sitting in a 
chaise, drawn by a favourite dog, — the scene, in Kew 
Gardens, — painted in 1746. f 

Frederick Prince of Wales possessed, like his father, 
George II., a great taste for theatricals, and was fond of 
instructing his children, at a very early age, to repeat 
moral speeches out of plays. While his family was still 
very young, the Prince had plays at Leicester House, in 
which the children of his Koyal Highness sustained the 
principal characters. These were under the direction of 

* During the debate respecting the Regency Bill, and the discus- 
sion as to whether the name of the Princess o£ Wales should he 
inserted, "Rose Fuller," says Walpole, "declared that if the motion 
for reinstating the Princess was rejected, he, to show his impartiality, 
would move to omit her Royal Highness's daughters, and Princess 
Amelia. It was said with humour, that would be like Lord Anglesey, 
who, beating his wife, a she said, ' How much happier is that wench 
(pointing to a housemaid) than I am ! ' He immediately kicked the 
maid down stairs, and then said, ' Well ! there is at least one grievance 
removed.' " 

a Who was a natural daughter of James II., was divorced from 
Lord Anglesey for his cruel usage. She afterwards married John 
Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham. 

f Fawkner's "Kensington." 
Kb 



142 TILE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

the celebrated Quin ; and it was in reference to the instruc- 
tions he then gave Prince George, that on hearing of the 
graceful manner in which he delivered his first speech from 
the throne, he exclaimed with pride and exultation — 
" Ah ! I taught the boy to speak." 

On the 4th of January, 1749, the children of his Royal 
Highness, with the aid of some of the juvenile branches of 
the nobility, performed the tragedy of " Cato," before their 
Royal parents and a numerous audience of distinguished 
personages. The following were the dramatis personce on 
this interesting occasion : — 

Portius Prince George. 

Juba ... Prince Edward. 

Cato Master Nugent. 

Sempronius Master Evelyn. 

Lucius Master Montagu. 

Decius Lord Milsington. 

Syphax Lord North's Son. 

Marcus Master Madden. 

Marcia Princess Augusta. 

Lucia Princess Elizabeth. 

Previous to the rising of the curtain, Prince George, then 
eleven years of age, came forward, and delivered in a most 
graceful and impressive manner the following prologue: — 

To speak with freedom, dignity, and ease, 

To learn those arts which may hereafter please, 

Wise authors say — let youth in earlier age 

Kehearse the poet's labours on the stage. 

Nay, more ! a nobler end is still behind — 

The poet's labours elevate the mind ; 

Teach our young hearts with gen'rous fire to burn, 

And feel the virtuous sentiments we learn. 

T' attain those glorious ends what play so fit, 

As that where all the powers of human wit 

Combine to dignify great Caesar's name, 

To deck his tomb, and consecrate his fame ? 



AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OF BRUNSWICK. • 143 

Where Liberty, name for ever dear ! 
Breathes forth in every line, and bids us fear 
Nor pains nor death to guard our sacred laws, 
But bravely perish in our country's cause. 
Patriots indeed ! Nor why that honest name, 
Through every time and action still the same 
Should thus superior to my years be thought, 
Know, 'tis the first great lesson I was taught. 
What, though a boy ! it may with pride be said, 
A boy in England born — in England bred ; 
Where freedom well becomes the earliest state, 
For there the love of liberty's innate. 
Yet more ; before my eyes those heroes stand, 
Whom the great William brought to bless this land, 
To guard with pious care that gen'rous plan 
Of power well bounded, which he first began. 
But while my great forefathers fire my mind, 
The friends, the joy, the glory of mankind, 
Can I forget that there is one more dear ? 
But he is present, and I must forbear. 

After the tragedy had been performed in a manner highly 
creditable to the Royal and other juvenile amateurs, and 
much to the honour of those who had completed their 
education, the Princess Augusta, afterwards Duchess of 
Brunswick, mother of Queen Caroline, and Prince Edward, 
afterwards Duke of York, delivered an epilogue, of which 
the following is a copy : — 

Princess Augusta. 
The prologue's filled with such fine phrases, 
George will alone have all the praises ; 
Unless we can (to get in vogue) 
Contrive to speak an epilogue. 

Prince Edward. 
George has, 'tis true, vouchsaf d to mention 
His future gracious intention \ 

In such heroic strains, that no man 
"Will e'er deny his soul is Boman. 

i 2 



144 THE KOTAL PRINCESSES.. 

But what have you or I to say to 
The pompous sentiments of Cato ? 
George is to have imperial sway; 
Our task is only to obey ; 
And trust me I'll not thwart his will, 
But be his faithful Juba still — 
Though, sister, now the play is over, 
I wish you'd get a better lover. 

Princess Augusta. 
Why, not to underrate your merit, 
Others would court with different spirit ; 
And I perhaps might like another 
A little better than a brother. 
Could I have one of England's breeding, 
But 'tis a point they're all agreed in, 
That I must wed a foreigner, 
Across the seas, — the Lord knows where,—- 
Yet, let me go where'er I will, 
England shall have my wishes stilL 

Prince Edward. 
In England born, my inclination, 
Like yours, is wedded to the nation; 
And future times, I hope, will see 
The General, in reality. 
Indeed, I wish to serve this land. 
It is my father's strict command ; 
And none he ever gave will be 
More cheerfully obeyed by me. 

The scene must have been interesting, for at the time 
Augusta, the eldest of these Royal children, was only twelve 
years old, the Prince George eleven, Prince Edward ten, 
and the little Elizabeth just seven. The same year, 1749, 
witnessed the birth of another little Princess, named 
Louisa Anne, # and the following the domestic happiness of 
this merry group was broken up by the death of the Prince 
* Louisa Anne, born 1749. 



AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OP BRUNSWICK. 145 

of Wales himself. He died in 1751, leaving his wife in 
expectation of becoming again a mother. The ill-fated 
Caroline Matilda, afterwards Queen of Denmark, was born 
after the death of her Royal and much -lamented father. 

After the death of Frederick, Prince of Wales, the King, 
George II., visited the widowed Princess. A chair of state 
was placed for him, but he refused it, and sat by her on 
the couch, embraced and wept with her. He would not 
suffer the Lady Augusta to kiss his hand,, but embraced 
her, and gave it to her brothers, and told them — " they 
must be brave boys, obedient to their mother, and deserve 
the fortune to which they were born." # 

After the accession of George III., at the time " when 
the bride-Queen, Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg, on her 
arrival in England, was first introduced to the bridesmaids 
and Court, ' Lady ' Augusta was forced to take her hand, 
and give it to those that were to kiss it, which was prettily 
humble and good natured."f 

The day after the Queen's nuptials, a ball was given, 
which was opened by the Duke of York and his sister, the 
Princess Augusta (afterwards Duchess of Brunswick) . 

The Princess Dowager of Wales, with the younger 
branches of her family, did not walk in the great procession 
on the occasion of the coronation of her son, George III., 
but went from the House of Lords across Old Palace Yard, 
on a platform erected for that purpose, to the south cross 
of the Abbey, where they had a box to see the coronation, 
and afterwards dined by themselves in an apartment 
adjoining to the hall. In this procession also appeared the 
three Mahometan Ambassadors, then at our Court, clothed 
in the proper dresses of their country. The people com- 

* Walpole. 
+ Horace Walpole's " Letter to General Conway." 



146 TIIE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

miserated the situation of the Princess of Wales and her 
family, who on this occasion appeared to their view to have 
lost their precedency by the death of Frederick, Prince of 
Wales. 

Lady Mary Stuart, eldest daughter of the favourite, John 
Earl of Bute (afterwards married to Sir James Lowther), 
and Lady Susan Stuart, daughter of the Earl of Galloway 
(afterwards third wife of Granville Leveson, Earl Gower), 
were named of the bedchamber to the Lady Augusta, the 
King's sister, immediately after the accession. # 

At the same moment that the crown was placed on her 
Majesty, Queen Charlotte's, head, Princess Augusta and 
all the Peeresses put on their coronets. At the coronation 
dinner, the Dukes of York and Cumberland sat at one end 
of the table, on the King's right hand, and the Princess 
Augusta at the other end, on the Queen's left hand. 

The new Monarch, his Queen, and all the Boyal family, 
were invited to the civic feast, and in the procession on the 
occasion of their visit, the Princess Augusta took her 
proper place. The lively describer of this event, after 
narrating the formalities attending the kissing the hand 
of the Queen, says — " The same ceremony was performed 
of kissing the hand with the Princess Dowager, Amelia,, 
Augusta, the Dukes of Cumberland, York, and the other 
Princes, who followed the King's example in compliment- 
ing each of us with a kiss, but not till their Majesties had 
left the room." Sir Samuel Fludyer was the Lord 
Mayor who had the signal honour of entertaining their 
Majesties. 

An incident is recorded of Queen Charlotte in her early 
married days : — 

" The King made her frequent presents of magnificent 
* Walpole. 



ArGUSTA, DUCHESS OF BETTYS WICK. 147 

jewels ; and as if diamonds were empire, she was never 
allowed to appear in public without them. The first time 
she received the sacrament, she begged not to wear them ; 
one pious command of her mother having been, not to use 
jewels at her first communion. The King indulged her ; 
but Lady Augusta carrying this tale to her mother, the 
Princess obliged the King to insist on the jewels, and the 
poor young Queen's tears and terrors could not dispense 
with her obedience." # 

"Lady Augusta," attended by her maid of honour, 
Lady Susan Stuart, was present at the first party given 
by Queen Charlotte. The King and Queen danced toge- 
ther the whole evening, and the "Lady Augusta" danced 
with her younger brothers in turn. 

Even in the reign of G-eorge II. there had been thoughts 
of a double alliance between the Royal family of England 
and that of Brunswick ; but the jealousy of the Princess of 
Wales having prevented the marriage of her son with a 
Princess of that line, the Court of Brunswick, according to 
Walpole, "had no great propensity" to the other match 
between the Hereditary Prince and Lady Augusta. " It 
had, however, been treated of from time to time ; and in 
1762 had been agreed on, but was abruptly broken off by 
the influence of the King of Prussia.f 

" Lady Augusta was lively, and much inclined to meddle 
in the private politics of the Court. As none of herj 
children but the King, had, or had reason to have, much 
affection for their mother, she justly apprehended Lady 
Augusta's instilling their disgusts into the Queen. She 
could not forbid her daughter's frequent visits at Buck- 
ingham House, but to prevent any ill consequence from 

* Walpolc's " Memoirs." f Ibid, 

i The Princess of Wales. 



14S THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

them, often accompanied her thither. This, however, was 
an attendance and constraint the Princess of Wales could 
not support. Her exceeding indolence, her more excessive 
love of privacy, and the subjection of being frequently with 
the Queen, whose higher rank was a never-ceasing morti- 
fication, all concurred to make her resolve, at any rate, to 
deliver herself from her daughter. To attain this end, a 
profusion of favours to the hated House of Brunswick was 
not thought too much. The Hereditary Prince was pre- 
vailed on to accept Lady Augusta's hand, with fourscore 
thousand pounds, an annuity of 5000/. a-year on Ireland, 
and 3000Z. a-year on Hanover. # 

His Majesty having been graciously pleased to commu- 
nicate to both Houses of Parliament the intended mar- 
riage of his sister, the Princess Augusta, with the Heredi- 
tary Prince of Brunswick, the House of Commons waited 
on the King, December 2nd, 1763, wdth an address of 
thanks for such communication : the House of Lords did 
the same on the 5th. 

The dowery allowed by the House of Commons to her 
Royal Highness, in pursuance of his Majesty's message, as 
usual on such occasions, was 80,000Z. 

On January 12th, 1764, his most Serene Highness the 
Hereditary Prince of Brunswick Lunenberg landed at 
Harwich, from on board his Majesty's yacht the Princess 
Augusta, and on the evening of the next day arrived at 
Somerset House in the King's equipages, attended by 
several noblemen who went to wait his arrival at Harwich.. 
The next morning his Serene Highness waited on their 
Majesties and the rest of the Eoyal family ; and on the 
16th, at seven in the evening, the ceremony of the mar- 
riage of her Royal Highness the Princess Augusta with 
* Walpolc's " Memoirs of the Reign of George III." 



AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OF BBUNSWICK. 149 

his most Serene Highness was performed in the great 
Council Chamber, St. James's, by his Grace the Archbishop 
of Canterbury. None but peers and peeresses, peers' eldest 
sons and peers' daughters, privy councillors and their wives, 
and foreign ministers, were admitted to be present at the 
ceremony. Their Serene and Royal Highnesses remained 
at St. James's till nine, and then repaired to Leicester 
House, where a grand supper was prepared ; at which 
were present their Majesties, the Princess Dowager, 
Princes William and Henry, and the rest of the Royal 
family. Their Majesties went away about twelve. 

The next day their Majesties, her Royal Highness the 
Princess Dowager of Wales, and their Royal and Serene 
Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Brunswick, received 
the compliments of the nobilhVy and geirhy, which were 
followed by most dutiful and affectionate addresses from 
both Houses of Parliament, and the City of London. 

The Princess Augusta had much endeared herself to all 
who knew her by the virtues of her heart and the uniform, 
sweetness of her manners. The parting of the King from 
his sister could scarcely be more tender than that of the 
Queen and the Princess, between whom the sincerest 
friendship had subsisted ever since their first interview. 

Their Highnesses, at their setting out, were pleased to 
order 500Z. each for the relief of poor prisoners for debt. 

His Serene Highness, during his stay in London, was 
sumptuously entertained by his Royal Highness the 
Duke of Cumberland, and many of the principal nobility and 
gentry ; he had visited every place with the attention of a 
traveller ; confirming all ranks in those sentiments of love 
and esteem which his behaviour in the British army in 
Germany had already so justly inspired. But no part of 
his Highness' s behaviour seemed to give so much pleasure 



150 THE EOTAL PKINCESSES. 

as his paying a visit, in a free and friendly manner, worthy 
of himself, to Mr. Pitt, then eonfmed by the gout at his 
country seat. 

On the occasion of her marriage the King presented 
his sister with a diamond necklace worth thirty thousand 
pounds ; the Queen gave a gold watch of exquisite work- 
manship, set with jewels ; and the Princess Dowager gave 
her daughter a diamond stomacher of immense value. 

This marriage caused the Court on the birthday to be 
uncommonly brilliant ; a splendid ball was given in the 
evening, rendered peculiarly interesting from its being 
opened by the Prince and Princess of Brunswick. 

Two nights afterwards they accompanied their Majesties 
to Covent Garden Theatre, to see the new comedy of 
" No one's Enemy but his Own;" and so great was the 
crowd, that the playhouse passages and the piazzas ex- 
hibited nothing but one connected living mass; even 
the streets were so thronged, as to render it difficult for 
the carriages to get along without accident. So great was 
the curiosity of some ladies to see the Hereditary Prince, 
that several offered five guineas for a seat in the boxes, 
and w r ere refused. But the pressure at the Opera-house 
on the following Saturday was even greater. The car- 
riages could not come near the door, on which account 
many of the nobility were under the necessity of mixing 
with the throng, which was so great that several ladies 
were in danger of being crushed to death. All respect for 
rank and sex was lost ; and some gentlemen being impru- 
dent enough to draw their swords, increased the confusion 
to such a degree that many persons fainted away ; while 
others, in the struggle to extricate themselves, had their 
clothes torn from their backs. The crowd was not much 
less about the Palace on the Monday following, when her 



AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OP EEUKSYflCIv. 151 

Majesty held another Drawing-room in honour of the 
Prince and Princess of Brunswick, who, with the different 
branches of the Royal family and many of the nobility, 
were entertained in the evening at the Queen's house witH 
a grand concert, ball, and supper. This was by way of 
taking leave of their Serene Highnesses, who set out for 
the Continent on the ensuing Wednesday. 

On the 26th, at three in the evening, their Highnesses 
set out for Harwich, loaded with presents from their 
Majesties, and the rest of the Royal family, and attended 
by the tears of many and the good wishes of all, which 
the Prince returned by his prayers for the success of this 
nation, for which, he said, he had already bled, and would 
again with pleasure on any future occasion. The Princess, 
in a German travelling habit, attended by Lady Susan 
Stuart, and two noblemen, went in one coach, and the 
Prince, with some of the noblemen of his Court, followed 
in another. The Princes William Henry and Frederick, 
and two noblemen, went next in post-chaises and four, 
attended by many servants on horseback, but no guards. 
By eight they arrived at the seat of Lord Abercorn, at 
Witham in Essex, where a grand entertainment w r as pro- 
vided for their Highnesses ; and they were met by many 
of the nobility of both sexes, who had set out before to 
spend the evening with their Highnesses. 

On the 17th, their Highnesses set out for Mistley Hall, 
and from thence the next day arrived at Harwich, where 
the Corporation waited upon them with their compliments 
of congratulation, and had the honour of kissing the 
Princess's hand. 

On the 29th they embarked in different yachts, and 
sailed on the 30th, but did not reach Helvoetsluys till 
the 2nd of February, having been overtaken by very bad 



152 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

weather, in which there was the greatest reason to fear 
their Highnesses had perished, as it was several days be- 
fore any certain and agreeable account of them reached 
London. 

1764. — Their Boj'al and most Serene Highnesses the 
Hereditary Prince and Princess of Brunswick, on their 
landing at Helvoetsluys, on the 2nd of February, were 
complimented by the great cupbearer, Bigot, on the part 
of the Prince of Orange ; by M. de Beden, charged by the 
King of Great Britain and the Regency of Hanover to 
conduct them to Lunebourg ; and M. de Bortwitz, on the 
part of the Duke of Brunswick. The next day the 
Hereditary Prince took the route by land, and arrived 
towards evening at the Hague. Her Royal Highness 
embarked at the same time on board the yachts of the 
Prince of Orange and of the Admiralty, and having a 
fair wind, arrived the same evening at Delfthaven, and 
the next morning at Delft, where the Hereditary 
Prince and Duke Lewis of Brunswick, as well as the 
English Ambassador, came to meet her. The equipage 
of the Prince Stadtholder, with an escort of body guards, 
conducted her Boyal Highness from Delft to the Hague, 
to the palace of the Prince Stadtholder, called the Old 
Court, where, on alighting from her coach, she was received 
by the Prince Stadtholder, who handed her to her apart- 
ments, where her Boyal Highness received, some time 
after, the compliments of the foreign Ministers and a 
great number of persons of distinction. 

The States-General, the States of Holland, and the 
Council of State, upon news of their Highnesses' arrival, 
nominated a deputation of their most distinguished mem- 
bers, to compliment them upon their safe arrival, and the 
happy conclusion of their marriage; but as they were 



AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OF BKU^SWICK. 153 

pleased to decline receiving these deputations in form, all 
the colleges had the honour to make their compliments 
without ceremony. 

The Prince Stadth older gave, the same day, a grand 
dinner and supper at the Palace to their Royal and 
Serene Highnesses, who went in the evening to the French 
comedy, and were entertained on the following days by 
Duke Lewis of Brunswick, his Serene Highness's uncle ; 
General Yorke, &c. 

On the 11th their Highnesses arrived at Loo ; on the 
12th at Twickel, and the same day passed the frontiers 
of the Seven Provinces. On the 15th they arrived at 
Nienburg, and the next day at Zell. The burgesses of 
both these towns received them under arms, and the air 
resounded with acclamations of joy. They were compli- 
mented at Nienburg by the Generals Sporcken, Wangen- 
heim, Regen, and Walmoden ; and at Zell by Baron de 
Fursteini and M. de Bock. The Countess of Yarmouth 
received them at Newstadt. Their Highnesses continued 
their route to Lunenburg, escorted by a detachment of 
horse. 

February, 1764. — On the 19th his Serene Highness 
arrived at Brunswick, and on the 21st her Royal High- 
ness followed. She was met at Wenden, three miles 
from Brunswick, by a party of light horse ; and when 
she came within one mile of the town, by the Reigning 
Duke, the Duchess, Prince Ferdinand, and the whole 
illustrious family, who were come in six coaches-and-six. 
After reposing some time in a large splendid green 
pavilion, the reigning Duchess and her Royal and Serene 
Highness set out in an open coach, that the people might 
see her. Daring her passage, and at her approach to 
the town, attended by military music, ninety guns were 



15i THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

thence discharged, and the bells of the town and adjacent 
places were rung. Without the gate paraded a company 
of Prince Frederick's Grenadiers, and forty of the Horse 
Life Guards, dressed in leathern jerkins laced with silver. 
Within the gate were two battalions of the Foot Guards, 
two battalions of General Imhoff's regiment, two bat- 
talions of General Mausberg's regiment, and two bat- 
talions of the Hereditary Prince's own regiment. Her 
Royal Highness w r as preceded by two squadrons of 
Hussars, and followed by sixty of the Horse Life Guards, 
another squadron of the Hussars, and a great number of 
officers on horseback. After they alighted at Granhoff, 
the Duke's Palace, the Princess appeared at the window, 
while the regiments filed by and saluted her ; which done, 
they went to the ramparts and fired three salvos. At 
five o'clock their Highnesses sat down to table, from 
which they arose at eight, played at cards in the great 
assembly-room till ten, when they went to supper, and 
then retired to the Hereditary Prince's palace. 

On the 22nd the whole Court was assembled in the 
morning in the Prince's palace ; at two her Royal High- 
ness went to the Duke's palace, with Lady Stuart in her 
coach, followed by his Serene Highness. In the evening 
their Highnesses went to a new opera, and were received 
at their entrance with great acclamations of the people. 
After the opera they supped in the great ball-room, and 
there was a splendid ball, which lasted till early the next 
morning. 

On the 23rd they dined in public, and in the evening 
went to an operetta. 

On the 24th was a great ball at Court, and a supper in 
the parterre of the opera-house, on a table in the form of 
an A, with eighty covers. 



AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OP BBUISTSWICK. 155 

On the 25tli was an operetta, and on the 27th a panto- 
mime, called "Harlequin in the Hartz." 

This amiable Princess speedily won the hearts of 
her future subjects by her most gracious and popular 
behaviour. 

The Prince and Princess of Brunswick subsequently 
came to England by special invitation. Some thought 
Lord Bute hoped to engage Mr. Pitt by the intervention 
of the Hereditary Prince ; but the court paid of late both 
by the Prince and his wife to the Princess Dowager, had 
entirely gained her affections, and removed her antipathy 
to the House of Brunswick.^ 

1765. On the occasion of the baptism of the fourth son 
of Queen Charlotte, afterwards William IV. of his name, 
the sponsors were the Duke of Gloucester, the uncle of 
the babe, and the Prince and Princess of Brunswick. 
The ceremony took place, in presence of their Majesties, 
the Royal family, and nobility, at St. James's, and was 
performed by Dr. Seeker, Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Very shortly after this event occurred the death of the 
Duke of Cumberland, the hero of Culloden, to the great 
grief of his family. 

In 1793 William, Duke of Clarence, and his brother 
Frederick, Duke of York, in company with the Duke of 
Brunswick, visited Silesia, and renewed their acquaintance 
with Frederic the Great of Prussia, whom they had pre- 
viously met at Potsdam. One of the Royal princes 
during a visit to the Court of Brunswick, had drawn a 
picture of the Princess Caroline in such glowing colours, 
as being like the Princess Mary of England, his favourite 
sister, that the Prince of Wales determined to make her 
his wife. 

* Walpole. 



156 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

When Caroline quitted Brunswick, December 30th, 
1794, for England, her future home, she was accompanied 
by her mother, and a numerous train of the populace, who 
followed her with prayers and acclamations. After 
Osnaburg they visited Hanover, and spent some weeks in 
the Bishop's Palace, which had been fitted up for their 
reception. On March 28th, 1795, the Princess embarked 
for England : her history belongs to another page, and the 
negotiation of Lord Malmesbury respecting her marriage, 
with the various details, the limits of this work do not 
permit us to insert. 

The only issue of the marriage of Caroline of Bruns- 
wick was one daughter, the much-beloved, the long- 
lamented Princess Charlotte, who drew her first breath 
at Carlton House, between the hours of one and two 
in the morning of January 7th, 1796. There were 
present on the occasion, the Duke of Gloucester, the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, the High Chancellor, the Lord 
President of his Majesty's Council, the Duke of Leeds, the 
Lord Chancellor, and Master of the Horse (Earl Jersey), 
the Prince of Wales, Lord Thurlow, and the Ladies of 
her Eoyal Highness the Princess of Wales's own bed- 
chamber. 

So great was the anxiety to obtain an heir to the 
throne, that the utmost anxiety was felt on this occa- 
sion, which was conducted with the most solemn formali- 
ties. The Ladies of her Royal Highness's Court waited 
on her during her illness, which at one period is said to 
have threatened her life, and in which she has been said 
to have been saved by the intelligent friendship of a dis- 
tinguished statesman. The Prince of Wales himself was 
so very anxious on the preceding evening, when dining at 
Streatham with Mr. Macnamara, to meet a convivial 



ATJGTTSTA, DUCHESS OF BRUNSWICK. 157 

party, among whom were the Duke of Bedford and Lord 
Thurlow, whose society he much enjoyed, that he quitted 
the festive board at a much earlier hour than was his 
custom. 

On the 29th, the City of London intimated its desire 
to make an Address of Congratulation on the auspicious 
event ; but Lord Cholmondeley informed the City Remem- 
brancer that the Prince could not receive it in a suitable 
maimer, being under the necessity of dismissing his esta- 
blishment, which would render him unable to receive such 
compliments in a manner suitable to his rank, and with 
the respect due to the capital of the Empire ; he at the 
same time expressed his regret at not being able to 
acknowledge these good wishes to himself and the Princess 
of Wales. 

The Hereditary Prince succeeded to the Dukedom of 
Brunswick on the death of his father in 1780, and for some 
years after resided at Brunswick, where the Princess, who 
was throughout life deservedly esteemed, made his court 
very agreeable. In 1787 he commanded the Prussian 
forces which took possession of Amsterdam, and put down 
the republican party in Holland. His campaigns against 
the French republicans were less successful, and his well- 
known manifesto rendered his failure more glaring. He 
was mortally wounded at Auerstadt, and expired at 
Altona on the 10th of November, 1806, leaving behind 
him the reputation of a bold and enterprising, rather than 
of an able general. 

The King of Prussia had renewed his alliance with 
Great Britain, but Napoleon having entered Prussia 
at the head of a French army, the fate of that 
country was decided on the 14th of October, by the 
battle of Jena. The King retreated from the field 

M 



15S THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

with his guards, and the Duke of Brunswick was mor- 
tally wounded. 

The Duchess of Brunswick had three sons and three 
daughters. The present Boyal family of Wurtemberg 
are descended from her through her daughter, wife of 
that Duke of Wurtemberg who was created King by 
Napoleon : his second wife, the first Queen of Wurtem- 
berg, was Charlotte Augusta Matilda, Princess Royal of 
England, daughter of George III. 

The Duke and Duchess of Brunswick were not happy 
in their family : of their two daughters, the eldest, who 
married the King of Wurtemberg, came to a miserable 
end in Russia ; the youngest was the unfortunate Queen 
Caroline. Their eldest son was of weak understanding ; 
and the youngest, " Brunswick's fated Chieftain," a Prince 
of moderate abilities but signal courage, fell in middle life 
at Waterloo. 

The author of " Anecdotes of Foreign Courts" ob- 
serves : — " There is no reason whatever even to suspect 
the Empress Catherine of having anticipated, much less 
been accessory, in any degree to the death of the late 
Duchess of Wurtemberg. I have the best reason on earth 
for contradicting the insinuations and calumnies which 
have gone abroad on this subject, in the testimony of her 
own mother, with whom I had a conversation on the 
subject at Hanover in 1795, and at which the late Earl of 
Bristol happened to be present. In this interview the 
Duchess of Brunswick, after lamenting the result of her 
daughter, the late Princess of Wales's marriage, and the 
terms on which she lived with her husband, observed, ' I 
am, indeed, truly unfortunate with respect to both my 
daughters. The other, poor thing ! fell a sacrifice to the 
jealousy of her husband, who, after having led her a most 



AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OF BRUNSWICK. 159 

wretched life, not satisfied with his brutal treatment 
during an existence which was certainly shortened by ill- 
usage, calumniated her memory in the grave.' It may be 
readily supposed that in a conversation like the above, 
continued for some time, the Duchess would not have 
omitted to make some allusion to Catherine, had there 
been the smallest motive for doing so ; while, on the con- 
trary, I well recollect her Highness having alluded to the 
memory of the Empress, and her great kindness to her 
daughter, in terms of warm approbation and gratitude. 
In speaking of the late unfortunate Queen Caroline, the 
Duchess said : — ' I am convinced my daughter Caroline 
must have injured herself very much in the estimation of 
several of the British Royal family, for having been too 
candid relative to the cruel treatment of her sister, when 
the Duke married the Princess Eoyal of England, on the 
propriety of which match her opinion had not been 
asked.' 5 ' 

The " Lady Augusta" herself, the widowed Duchess 
who had survived her father, mother, sisters, and her 
husband, and witnessed such sorrows as those her children 
were destined to experience, in her old age returned again 
a second time to the land of her childhood and happier 
days, over which her brother George reigned. She had 
been forty-eight years married to the Duke of Brunswick 
when he received the fatal wound, of which he died, at 
Jeua. 

The Clyde frigate which brought over the Duchess of 
Brunswick arrived off Gravesend on Monday night, July 
13th, 1807. The Duchess landed on Tuesday morning, July 
7th, at ten o'clock, and went immediately to the new tavern, 
where every preparation was made for the reception of 
this august Princess. The volunteer artillery and the 
m2 



ICO THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

light infantry volunteers were out, to show all possible 
respect to her Royal Highness. The guns from the lines 
at Gravesend, and also at Tilbury Fort, were fired in 
honour of the occasion. The Clyde manned her yards and 
saluted. The Mayor and Corporation received her Royal 
Highness with all due form, and eagerly testified their 
respect to a Princess so nearly related to their monarch, 
and so estimable in herself. The venerable Princess 
seemed to be deeply sensible of these demonstrations of 
regard, in which the people in general warmly partici- 
pated ; and she quitted the place in the Princess of 
Wales's carriage, with her attendants, for Blackheath. 

On Wednesday, about twelve o'clock, the Princess 
Charlotte of Wales, attended by Lady de Clifford, left her 
house in Warwick-street in her carriage-and-four, upon a 
visit to her Royal mother, and to pay her respects to the 
Duchess of Brunswick, her grandmother. 

On Thursday morning, his Majesty quitted Windsor in 
his travelling carriage at ten o'clock for Blackheath, on a 
visit to his Royal sister, the Duchess of Brunswick, and the 
Princess of Wales. His Majesty arrived at the Princess's 
house about one o'clock, and on alighting from his carriage 
was received by the Duchess and the Princess. This 
meeting can be better conceived than described. His 
Majesty partook of an early dinner, and set off on his re- 
turn to Windsor about four o'clock. # 

Of the four sisters of George III., Augusta, Duchess of 
Brunswick was the only survivor, and the interview be- 
tween the aged King, then in his sixty-eighth year, with 
this sister, to whom he was next in age, and under her 
present afflicting circumstances, after they had been sepa- 
rated more than forty years, was very painful, arc! much 
* " Annual Register." 



ATTGUSTA, DUCHESS OE BKTOSWICK. 161 

affected both. Elizabeth Caroline had been dead forty-one 
years, and Louisa Anne thirty-nine. 

On the 8th of August, the Lord Mayor, attended by 
four other Aldermen, and about eighty of the Common 
Council, proceeded in state from Guildhall to Montague 
House, Blackheath, where they presented the following- 
address to the Duchess of Brunswick : — 

" May it please your Royal and Serene Highness, 
" We, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of the 
City of London, in Common Council assembled, most humbly 
entreat your Royal and Serene Highness to accept our sin- 
cere congratulations on your safe arrival in this imperial 
country. The return to her native land of an illustrious 
Princess so nearly and dearly allied to our beloved Sove- 
reign, and to the Royal and amiable Consort of the Heir 
Apparent to the throne of this United Kingdom, cannot 
but renew the most lively sentiments of affection in the 
hearts of his Majesty's loyal subjects, and a warm partici- 
pation of those feelings which a meeting so interesting to 
the Royal family must have occasioned. Deeply impressed, 
Madam, as we are, by the extraordinary events which have 
occasioned your return, we trust that your Royal and 
Serene Highness will permit us to express the sincere joy 
we feel at your restoration to the shores of a free and loyal 
people — not more attached to a good and venerable King 
by duty to his supreme and august station, than by affec- 
tion to his sacred person and family. 

" (Signed by order of Court,) 

" HENEY WoonTHOKPE." 

To which her Royal Highness returned the following 
answer : — 



162 THE UOYAL PRINCESSES. 

" My Lord, — I return your Lordship and the Aldermen 
and Commons of the City of London my grateful thanks 
for an address which has given me the most heartfelt satis- 
faction. It affords me an additional instance of the loyal 
attachment of the City of London to the King, and of 
their affectionate regard for his Majesty's royal family."* 

By direction of the King, a house in Hanover-square 
was taken for the Duchess of Brunswick, his sister pre- 
ferring a private establishment of her own upon an econo- 
mical scale, to a residence in either of the Royal mansions. 
In the following year, the Parliament voted a grant of 
10,000Z. a-year to the aged Duchess. She continued to 
reside in England till her death, in 1813, which occurred 
at the residence named, in Hanover-square, on the 24th 
of March, at a quarter past nine o'clock. " Her Eoyal 
Highness had been subject to an asthmatic complaint for 
some years, which was increased by the epidemic disorder 
prevalent at the time she was taken ill, but no alarm 
was excited till the morning of the 23rd. About five 
o'clock, her Royal Highness seemed better, but spasm 
came upon her chest about eight, and the aged sufferer 
died about nine o'clock, without pain. Her Boyal Highness 
was confined to her bed only two days. The Princess of 
Wales visited her only on Tuesday, and remained with her 
august mother for a considerable time." This venerable 
Princess was in the seventy-sixth year of her age, and the 
last surviving sister of our Sovereign. 

The death of the venerable Duchess of Brunswick was 
a severe blow, not only to the Princess of Wales, but to 
her daughter, the Princess Charlotte. Happily for the 
aged Duchess, her death spared her the anguish of be- 
holding her beloved grandchild prematurely snatched from 
* " Annual Register." 



AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OE BRUNSWICK. 1G3 

the world, and the subsequent miserable close of the career 
of her unfortunate daughter, Caroline. 

On the 31st of March (1813), "at an early hour, 
Hanover- square and the avenues leading thereto were 
crowded with people, who were assembled for the purpose 
of witnessing the commencement of the ceremonial of the 
funeral of her Boyal Highness the Duchess of Brunswick. 
A detachment of the Foot Guards was on duty in the 
Square, and formed a line from the late residence of her 
Boyal Highness to the top of George-street, through 
which the procession was to proceed. There were also 
several troops of the 7th Hussars on duty, who afterwards 
joined in the procession. 

At half-past eight, the necessary arrangements having 
been made, the hearse, which was richly emblazoned with 
the armorial bearings of the deceased, drew up to the 
corner of Brook-street, and received the coffin. The 
persons appointed to accompany the procession having 
taken their respective places, the whole proceeded round 
the north side of the square to George-street, down which, 
they passed into Conduit-street, Bond-street, and Piccadilly, 
and so on to Hyde-park-corner. The order of march was 
as follows : — 

Eight ushers in deep mourning, with scarves and hat- 
bands, mounted on black horses, marching two and two. 

Then followed five mourning coaches. 

The carriage of her late Boyal Highness, drawn by six 
horses, in which was the coronet, borne by Clarencieux 
King-at-Arms, attended by an escort of the 7th Hussars, 
and followed immediately by four ushers on horseback. 

The hearse, drawn by eight horses, the 7th Hussars 
forming a line on each side, their arms reversed. 

A mourning coach, drawn by six horses, in which was 



1G4 THE HOYAL PllIKCESSES. 

Garter Principal King-at-Arms, with two gentlemen 
ushers. 

The chief mourner, the Duke of Brunswick, who seemed 
deeply affected, in a mourning coach, drawn by six horses, 
and attended by two supporters. 

Two mourning coaches, drawn by four horses, in. which 
were some of the domestics of her late Eoyal Highness. 

The carriage of the chief mourner, drawn by six horses. 

The carriage of the Princess of Wales, drawn by six 
horses ; the servants in State liveries. 

The carriage of her Eoyal Highness the Princess Char- 
lotte, drawn by six horses. 

The carriage of the Prince of Wales, drawn by six 
horses. 

Then followed the carriages of all the Eoyal Dukes, 
drawn by six horses each, and the procession closed with 
four private carriages. 

The cavalcade stopped at Staines, where^efreshments 
were prepared, and remained there for some time. 

The procession had k very solemn and grand effect in 
all the villages through which it proceeded. The solemn 
knell was sounded as it passed, and the inhabitants, who 
lined the streets and public p&ths, Iqehaved in the most 
-chieprous manner. It reached Frogmore about eight at 
Eight, where tke roackwas l^ned witb>a party of the 33rd 
Eegiment, carrying lighted flambeaux, and the whole ot 
the military at Windsor were drawn out to receive it. 
The Castle yard was filled with infantry and cavalry, 
and illuminated by the blaze of flambeaux. As soon as 
the procession entered the yard, the whole presented arms, 
and the band struck up a solemn dirge, which gave the 
scene altogether a truly grand and impressive effect. At 
the porch of St. George's Chapel the body was taken 



AUGUSTA, DUCHESS OE BKUNSWTCK. 165 

out of the hearse and placed upon a bier, which was 
carried by the yeomen of the guard. On entering the 
chapel, the aisles appeared lined with several troops of 
the Royal Horse Guards, partly under arms, and partly 
with lighted flambeaux. The organ opened its pealing 
tones, and Dr. Croft's admired funeral service was sung 
by the whole of the choir. The Duke of Brunswick had 
arrived at the Dean of Windsor's in the afternoon, and 
acted as chief mourner ; he was supported by Barons De 
Hackel and De Nortenfeld. Among other noblemen 
present in the procession, were the Lord Chamberlain, 
the Earl of Winchelsea, Lords Somerville, Rivers, St. 
Helen's, and Arden. The body being placed near the 
altar, the chief mourner took his seat in a chair at the 
head of the coffin. The service was performed by the 
Dean. The gentlemen of the choir sung the anthem, 
' I have set God always before me,' by Blake. The 
funeral service concluded with, ' I heard a voice from 
Heaven ;' after which Garter King-at-Arms proclaimed 
her late Royal Highness's style, which ended the 
ceremony." # 

* " Annual Register." 



166 



ELIZABETH CAEOLINE AND LOUISA ANNE, 

DAUGHTERS OF FREDERICK, PRINCE OF WALES. 

Relative ages of the two sisters — Early talents of Elizabeth Caroline 
— Her personal appearance — Early death — Buried in Henry VII. 's 
Chapel, "Westminster — Miss Chudleigh's grand entertainment 
described by Walpole — Louisa Anne — Her early ill-health — Re- 
markable talents — Anxiety of her family — Dies of consumption — 
Court mourning ordered — Journeymen tailors' strike for increase of 
wages — Remains of Louisa Anne laid in state in the Prince's 
chamber — Buried in Westminster Abbey — The Duke of Mecklen- 
burg's disappointment — The Hereditary Prince Stadtholder another 
suitor for the Princess Louisa Anne. 

These royal sisters both died at an early age, and unmar- 
ried, by which they escaped the misfortunes which might 
have been allotted to them had length of years been their 
appointed destiny — as exemplified in the history of their 
elder sister, Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick, or their 
younger sister, Caroline Matilda, who, in the blooming 
period when she was entering her twenty-fourth year, was 
snatched from the world, which in that small space of 
time had offered to her lips a cup overflowing with many 
sorrows. 

There is always something painfully interesting in 
viewing that spectacle of frail mortality — the early dead. 
The allotted years of life being threescore and ten, it does 
not seem wonderful that all should start with the fair pro- 
mise of longevity in the dawn of existence ; yet how few 
attain the evening's sober ray of twilight ! How very 
few of those who do arrive at the goal — escaping the many 
snares of the fell hunter, Death, laid as traps in the path 



ELIZABETH CAEOLIKE A5TD LOUISA AOTTE. 167 

of daily traffic — can on their arrival there cast a retrospective 
glance on the journey, and congratulate themselves on 
attaining the destined haven ! 

Few in years — few in events, too — were the peaceful 
lives of the sister Princesses, Elizabeth Caroline and Louisa 
Anne. The first was born December 30th, 1740 ; the last, 
on March 8th, 1748— some distance in age, therefore, 
divided them from each other. 

Of Elizabeth Caroline, the second daughter of Frederick, 
Prince of Wales, Walpole says, " Her figure was so very 
unfortunate, that it would have been difficult for her to be 
happy ; but her parts and application were extraordinary. 
I saw her act in Cato, at eight years old (when she could 
not stand alone, but was forced to lean against the side 
scene), better than any of her brothers and sisters. She 
had been so unhealthy that, at that age, she had not been 
taught to read, but had learnt the part of Lucia by hearing 
the others study their parts. She went to her father and 
mother, and begged she might act. They put her off as 
gently as they could ; she desired leave to repeat her part, 
and when she did, it was with so much sense, that there 
was no denying her;" and so the little Princess had her 
will. 

If personal appearance was as essential to happiness as 
the courtier deemed, Elizabeth Caroline was certainly de- 
barred of the woman's chance : but though deformed, and 
even homely in person, she possessed a mind, as is not 
uncommon in such cases, far superior to her brothers and 
sisters ; and thus Nature balances the account with her 
children, and compensates for her own deficiencies. It 
was not, however, the will of Heaven that this sweet Prin- 
cess should live to a mature age. In her nineteenth year 
she died at Kew, September 4th, 1759, after a two days' 



1(53 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

illness, of inflammation of the bowels, and jist one month 
before the decease of her grandfather, George II. She 
was privately buried on the 14th, in the Royal vault in 
King Henry VII. 's chapel at Westminster. 

A letter from Plorace Walpole, to his friend General 
Conway, describes a fete given by one of the Queen's 
maids of honour, Miss Chudleigh (known afterwards as 
the celebrated Duchess of Kingston), in honour of her 
Royal mistress's birthday. " Oh ! that you had been at 
her ball the other night ; history could never describe it 
and keep its countenance. The Queen's real birthday, 
you know, is not kept. This maid of honour kept it — 
nay, whilst the Court is in mourning, expected people to 
be out of mourning : the Queen's family really was so, 
Lady Northumberland having desired leave for them. A 
scaffold was erected in Hyde Park for fireworks. To show 
the illuminations without to more advantage, the company 
were received in an apartment totally dark, where they 
remained for two hours. The fireworks were fine, and 
succeeded well. On each side of the Court were two large 
scaffolds, for the virgin's tradespeople. When the fire- 
works ceased, a large scene was lighted in the Court, repre- 
senting their Majesties, on each side of which were six 
obelisks, painted with emblems, and illuminated ; mottoes 
beneath, in Latin and English: first, for the Prince of 
Wales, a ship, Mutorum spes ; second, for the Princess 
Dowager, a bird of Paradise and two little ones, Meos ad 
sidera tollo ; third, Duke of York, a temple, Virtuti et 
lionori ; fourth, Princess Augusta, a bird of Paradise, Non 
liabet par em ; fifth, the three younger Princes, an orange 
tree, JPromittat et dat ; sixth, the two younger Princesses, 
the flower crown-imperial — I forget the Latin, the trans- 
lation was silly enough — ' Bashful in youth, graceful in 



ELIZABETH CAKOLINE AND LOUISA ANNE. 169 

age.' The lady of the house made many apologies for the 
poorness of the performance, which she said was only oil- 
paper, painted by one of her servants ; but it really was 
fine and pretty. Behind the house was a cenotaph, for 
the Princess Elizabeth, a kind of illuminated cradle : the 
motto, ' All the honours the dead can receive.' This 
burying-ground was a strange codicil to a festival; and 
what was still more strange, about one in the morning 
this sarcophagus burst out into crackers and guns. The 
Margrave of Anspach began the ball with the virgin. 
The supper was most sumptuous." 

Louisa Anne was eleven years old when she lost her 
sister; and she had herself been a sufferer from earliest 
infancy. ^ ^ ne ti me of her birth, she was so extremely 
small and delicate that it was thought advisable to have 
her immediately baptized. She, however, surmounted the 
perils to which children often fall a sacrifice, and seemed 
to be gradually acquiring strength. Her disposition was 
remarkable for its gentleness, and she was distinguished 
by an ardent desire for the acquisition of knowledge. This 
delighted, though it alarmed her family, who dreaded lest 
her health should be injured by too much application. The 
existence of that latent malady, consumption, as she pro- 
gressed in years, became more evident in the bright ver- 
milion hue of that fair cheek, to the grief of all those who 
surrounded and were tenderly attached to this sweet scion 
of royalty. Year rolled on after year, and still, as she 
advanced towards womanhood, that unfailing symptom 
was there to bid hope despair ; and a hectic cough from 
which she constantly suffered was herald of the rapid 
consumption which put a period to her existence at the 
early age of twenty . She expired on the 13fch of May, 1768, 
beins: the third child the Princess of Wales had lost 



170 TIIE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

within two years. At the time of this sad occurrence, 
the King and Queen were in such anxiety about her health, 
that they were staying constantly in town ; and on the 
occasion all plays and public diversions were interdicted, 
and an order for a six weeks' mourning issued from the 
office of the Lord Chamberlain. The journeymen tailors 
in London took advantage of the mourning for Princess 
Louisa Anne and the riots then continuing in London, to 
rise in a great body and go down to the Parliament to 
petition for an increase of wages, but were prevailed on 
by Justice Fielding to behave with decency.* 

On the 21st of May, the corpse of the young Princess 
was laid in state in the Prince's chamber, and about ten 
o'clock in the evening of the same day interred in the 
Eoj^al vault, in King Henry VII.'s chapel. The pro- 
cession began between nine and ten from, the Prince's 
chamber to the Abbey, where the body was received by 
the dean, who performed the funeral service. Her Grace 
the Duchess of Manchester was chief mourner ; and the 
pall was supported by Lady Scarborough, Lady Boston, 
Lady Masham, and Lady Lichfield. The minute guns at 
the Tower began firing about nine at night ; and St. Paul's 
bell, and those of most of the churches in London and 
Westminster, tolled every minute, and continued till her 
Eoyal Highness's body was interred. 

One part of the sad story of Louisa Anne has yet to be 
told. At the time of her death, fairer hopes had wakened 
in her young heart — a brighter future had seemed to be 
in reserve upon earth : she had been promised in marriage, — 
and, but for the relentless disease which had crept slowly 
and surely upon her fair frame, would ere long have been, 
in all probability, a happy wife. 
* Walpole. 



ELIZABETH CABOLESTE AKD LOUISA AtfKE. 171 

Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg, the eldest 
brother of Queen Charlotte, had. not only offered his hand 
to the Princess, but been successful in his suit. The mar- 
riage treaty was concluded in the autumn of the year 
1764 ; and from a paragraph in the Daily Advertiser, we 
learn that some of his Majesty's yachts were ready to sail 
in a few days' time for Holland, to bring over the Prince, 
who was shortly to be united to the royal lady of his 
choice. " If Louisa Anne had been gifted with rare mental 
powers, her chosen husband was not less so ; for so rapid 
had been his advances in learning at the age of fifteen, 
that it is on record he was elected Eector of the Univer- 
sity of Gupswald ; on which occasion he delivered a Latin 
oration, of his own composition, before the members of 
that learned institution, and acquitted himself with great 
honour. When his sister Charlotte became Queen of 
England, by marriage, he was reigning Duke of Mecklen- 
burg, having succeeded to his father's principality. Why 
his overtures to the sister of George III. did not termi- 
nate in the expected union, seems easy to be accounted 
for in the declining health of the Princess becoming 
daily more apparent to those who surrounded her. 
Though she survived this period three years, Walpole 
says " she never appeared more than an unhealthy child 
of thirteen or fourteen:" such inroads had been made by 
her fatal malady ! 

Yet another suitor had been ready to win her whose 
home was not to be in earth, but heaven. The public 
papers of the same period state that " Count de Bentinck, 
Lord of Ehoon and Pengregt, one of the lords of the States 
of Holland, who lately arrived in London, was commissioned 
to propose a marriage between his Serene Highness the 
Hereditary Prince Stadtholder, born 8th of March, 1748, 



172 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

and her Royal Highness the Princess Ijouisa Anne of 
England, born 19th of March, in the same year." 

Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg, seems to have 
been the husband selected by the Eoyal lady ; and though 
death deprived him of his early choice, he was twice married. 
In 1782 he spent several weeks at the Court of St. James, 
with his second Duchess, when their portraits were painted 
and hung up, by Queen Charlotte's orders, in her dining- 
room, at Frogmore. Adolphus died in 1794, when he was 
succeeded in the Dukedom by his brother, Charles Lewis 
Frederic, father of the Duchess of Solms, who, in 1816, 
became wife of the Duke of Cumberland. His other 
daughter was the beautiful and beloved Queen of Prussia : 
the walls of the dining-room of Queen Charlotte at Frog- 
more exhibit pictures of her mother and sister, and of 
Charles Lewis Frederic, named above, as well as of her 
brothers, Ernest Gottlob Albert, and George Aagustus. 



173 



CABOLINE MATILDA, 

QUEEN OF DENMAEK, YOUNGEST DAUGHTEB OF 
FEEDEBICK, PEINCE OF WALES. 

Her parents and family — A posthumous child — Marries Christian VII., 
King of Denmark — Birth of an heir — Leaves England — Be- 
ception in Denmark — The Queen-Mother — Caroline Matilda writes 
to the Princess of Hesse — Christian departs for England — His ad- 
ventures — He visits France — Conduct of the Queen — She lives at 
Fredericksbourg — Christian returns — Changed in his conduct to 
his wife — Struenzee reconciles the King and Queen — Manners 
and habits of the Queen — A good horsewoman — Escapes an ac- 
cident — Birth of a daughter — Hirschholm — Magnificence of the 
Court — Order of "Matilda" — Her mother's visit — Confederacy 
against Struenzee and the Queen — The masked ball — Imprisonment 
of Caroline Matilda — Indignation of Sir E. M. Keith — Death of 
Struenzee and Brandt — Death of Princess of Wales — Queen's 
letters — Interference of England — Conditions obtained — Parts from 
her children — Leaves Cronenburg — Lines written on her passage to 
Stadt — Queen at Zell — Her letter to the Duchess of Brunswick — 
Attempt to replace her on the throne — Embassy of Sir N. W. 
Wraxall — Sudden death of Caroline Matilda — Account of her last 
moments — Her funeral — Grief for her loss in England, Zell, and 
Denmark — The Crown Prince takes the power into his own hands 
in Denmark — Account of his conduct towards England — The 
cause. 

If there can be found among the records of woman's his- 
tory one page more painfully interesting than any other, 
which possesses a stronger claim on the sympathy of the 
sex, or is more calculated to draw forth from the bosom 
an honest expression of indignation for undeserved wrongs, 
that page is the one on which has been written, in cha- 



174 THE BOYAL PRINCESSES. 

racters too deeply traced to be ever obliterated, the sad, 
sorrowful life of Caroline Matilda of England, one of the 
noblest and most virtuous daughters of the illustrious 
House of Hanover. With a feeling of sympathy sincere 
and devoted, let the curtained veil be raised from the 
tomb of this revered and deceased Princess, and with 
hallowed hearts let us gaze upon the fair, young, idolized 
object of a nation's love, and a nation's everlasting regret. 
Caroline Matilda first beheld the light four months and 
eight days after the death of her father, his Eoyal High- 
ness Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of George II. ; 
her birth took place July 22nd, 1751. The Princess of 
Wales, her mother, educated this youngest of her nume- 
rous family in a manner which reflected the greatest credit 
on her sense and judgment, and thus rendered her fit to 
adorn the highest station. " She was well read in modern 
history, conversant with geography, spoke with correct- 
ness, eloquence, and fluency, both French and German, 
and understood Latin. Her diction in English was pure, 
and her elocution graceful. She could with facility repeat 
the finest passages from our dramatic poets, and often 
rehearsed, with great judgment and propriety, whole 
scenes from Shakspeare's most admired plays. But those 
far nobler qualities of the heart, which outstrip the mere 
forms of education and dispose the mind naturally to all 
that is good and great, were pre-eminently possessed by 
this youthful scion of royalty, whose sweetness of temper 
and vivacity of character endeared her to all those who 
surrounded her. The goodness and benevolence displayed 
by her throughout her brief career towards the unfortunate 
was a striking feature in her disposition, and one which 
must ever be remembered. Such was the sweet sister of 
George III., King of England, who was destined to be 



CABOLINE MATILDA. 175 

transplanted, at the early age of sixteen, to a foreign 
Court, of which she was for a brief period only to become 
the brightest ornament. 

Such was Caroline Matilda, the heroine of a melancholy- 
historical romance, when her hand was sought in marriage 
by her cousin, Christian the Seventh, King of Denmark, 
the son of Princess Louisa of England, one of the daugh- 
ters of George II. That young prince, when but three 
years of age, lost his mother ; and about twelve months 
after that event, his father, Frederick V., married Juliana 
Maria, of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel, a Princess of un- 
bounded ambition, who, while her husband yet lived, is 
said to have cherished the design she at a later period 
succeeded in carrying into effect ; of repressing the talents, 
and rendering incapable of wielding sovereign power, the 
heir to the throne, in order to make way for her own son 
Frederick, who was but four years younger. Stepmothers 
throughout history have been found guilty, in numberless 
instances, of crimes towards the hapless objects placed by 
circumstances under their care ; but never was there a 
more diabolical scheme than that by which Juliana Maria 
had planned to enervate and render imbecile the innocent 
young Christian, her stepson, and which eventually brought 
ruin and death to the blooming Caroline Matilda. 

The Queen Mother held, under the will of her deceased 
husband, an unlimited power over the Government during 
the minority of Christian, whose natural timidity or feeble- 
ness of disposition only made him the more fitting tool 
to accomplish her iniquitous designs. Under her control 
and direction, the young heir, who, according to some 
accounts, had even been in risk of his life from poison 
while his father was yet alive, had no sooner become suc- 
cessor to the crown, than every effort of this artful step- 
k2 



17G THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

mother was directed to the enervation and corruption of 
both mind and body of this unfortunate prince. The seeds 
of virtue which, under proper culture, would have ripened 
to maturity, were eradicated by vicious and dissipated 
counsellors, so that the errors and vices of Christian 
became strengthened, and his naturally good disposition 
perverted and ruined. It wonld scarcely have been pos- 
sible for a young man in ordinary life to have become a 
worthy member of society under such a training; how 
much less was the chance of the King of Denmark ! The 
following description is given of the personal appearance 
of Christian at the age of seventeen, the year of his acces- 
sion to the throne : — 

" The person of the young king, though considerably 
under the middle height, was finely proportioned, light 
and compact, but yet possessing a considerable degree of 
agility and strength. His complexion remarkably fair; 
his features, if not handsome, were regular ; his eyes blue, 
lively, and expressive ; his hair very light ; he had a good 
forehead and aquiline nose, a handsome mouth, and fine 
set of teeth. He was elegant, rather than magnificent in 
his dress ; courteous in his manners, though warm and 
irritable in his temper ; but his anger, if soon excited, was 
easily appeased, and he was generous to profusion." With 
different associates under the paternal restrictions, and 
fostered in the genial qualities of the heart by the tender 
love of a mother, how different might not Christian's 
after career have proved ! As it was, to his mother-in- 
law, " notwithstanding the disdain with which she treated 
him," he paid " all the deference which seemed due to her 
rank and authority in council. He never testified his 
firmness, or had the courage to defend his own opinion, 
Gil any other occasion than in the choice of Caroline 



CAROLINE MATILDA. 177 

Matilda of England ; whilst the Queen Dowager neither 
approved of the alliance, nor of the time fixed for the union. 
She hoped, from this Prince's weak and delicate constitu- 
tion, that if his marriage was deferred, he would never 
have any offspring of his own to succeed to the throne, 
and had no desire for a rival, either in the power she at 
present enjoyed, or the ascendancy she had acquired over 
the mind of the young King." 

Caroline Matilda, on her part, had little of happiness to 
anticipate in the marriage proposed to her, and seems to 
have not held the crown in prospect heavy in the balance. 
From the time the alliance was determined upon, she is 
described as having been " pensive, reserved, and dis- 
quieted, though always gracious, without taking upon her- 
self more state, or requiring more homage from the persons 
admitted into her presence." 

In a letter from George III. to General Conway, com- 
manding the summoning a Committee of Council upon 
the dearness of corn, bearing date September 20, 1766, is 
the following passage referring to the intended nuptials of 
his Majesty's sister, Princess Caroline Matilda : — 

" I return you the proposed ceremonial for the espousals 
of my sister, which I entirely approve of ; the full power 
must undoubtedly, ex officio, be read by you, and the 
solemn contract by the Archbishop of Canterbury. I de- 
sire, therefore, jou will have it copied, only inserting the 
Eoyal apartments of St. James's instead of the Royal 
Chapel, and my brother's Christian name in those places 
where it has, I think, evidently been, from negligence of 
the copier, omitted, where he speaks ; as in all other solemn 
declarations that is always used, as well as the title. The 
Archbishop should then have it communicated to him, 
that he may see whether it is conformable to precedents ; 



178 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

besides, the dignity of his station calls for that mark of 
regard from me." # 

At length the day appointed for the marriage arrived, 
and on the 1st of October, 1766, the amiable Princess gave 
her hand to Christian VII. King of Denmark, at the 
Chapel Royal, St. James's. 

" The parting between the Queen of Denmark and her 
Royal mother, the Princess of Wales, was extremely tender ; 
the young Queen, on getting into the coach, was observed 
to shed tears, which greatly affected the populace assem- 
bled in Pall Mall to witness her departure." f 

Before Caroline Matilda took her last farewell of the 
British shores, she wrote to the Duke of York the fol- 
lowing letter : — 

" Sir, and dear Brother, 

" I have just time enough to write you 
these few lines from England. If patriotism consists in 
the love of our country, what I feel now at the sight of 
that element which, in a few hours, shall convey me far 
from this happy land, gives me a just claim to that virtue. 
Perhaps you men, who boast of more fortitude, call this 
sensibility weakness, as you would be ashamed to play the 
woman on such an occasion ; but, in wishing you all the 
temporal felicity this life can afford, I confess all the phi- 
losophy I am mistress of cannot hinder me from concluding, 
with tears in my eyes, 

" Sir, and dear Brother, 

" Your most affectionate Sister, 

" Caroline." 

* Fenn's " Original Letters." f Keith's " Memoirs." 



CAROLINE MATILDA. 179 

Caroline Matilda is thus described by one of her own 
countrymen, at the time when she quitted for ever her 
native land. " Her person was above the middle size, and 
though well shaped, rather inclined to what the French 
call embonpoint. Her face was a regular oval, and her 
eyebrows, arched with symmetry, added sweetness and ex- 
pression to her beautiful eyes. Her lips and teeth exhi- 
bited the lively colours of coral, and the whiteness of 
alabaster. She had a good complexion, though not so fair 
as some of the royal family ; and her hair was of a light 
chesnut. Her voice was sweet and melodious, and her 
aspect rather gracious than majestic ; but she had in her 
tout ensemble a most prepossessing physiognomy." 

On the occasion of her marriage, "her Majesty was 
dressed in bloom-colour, with white flowers. Wherever 
she passed, the earnest wishes of the people were for her 
health, and praying God to protect her from the perils of 
the sea. A gentle melancholy seemed to affect her on ac- 
count of leaving her family and the place of her birth, 
but, upon the whole, she carried an air of serenity and 
majesty which exceedingly moved every one that beheld 
her." An eye-witness, however, remarks, that the tears 
shed by the royal bride on this occasion, " might have in- 
spired in those who beheld them gloomy forebodings as to 
the issue of the voyage she was about to undertake." 
How little were the events of a few short years then fore- 
seen — the lonely prison ! — the early tomb ! 

" On the 18th the Queen of Denmark arrived at Altona, 
and it is impossible to express the joy with which she was 
received. The bridge prepared for the royal reception was 
covered with scarlet cloth, on one side whereof were ranged 
the ladies, and on the other the men ; and at the end were 
two rows of young women, dressed in white, who strewed 



ISO THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

flowers before her Majesty as she approached. The illu- 
minations on the occasion were inconceivable." 

Juliana Maria was highly incensed at the iirst entry of 
the bride-queen into the capital of her dominions amid the 
universal acclamations accorded to youthful grace and 
beauty when combined with that natural affability which 
was so calculated to win the hearts of her people. 

This entree has been described by a Danish author in 
the following words : — " It was neither the powerful con- 
nexions, the high lineage, nor the ample dowry which this 
young and interesting Princess brought to my country 
that commanded universal admiration and esteem, but 
her youth, her innocence, her beauty, and her modest, re- 
tiring, graceful demeanour, that fascinated all who beheld 
her. I saw this ill-fated Princess when she first set her 
foot on the soil of Denmark. I did not join in the shouts 
of the multitude, but I was charmed with her appearance. 
She was received like a divinity ; and almost worshipped, 
at least by those of the male sex. Her animated beau- 
teous features, her fine blue eyes, beamed with delight on 
all around her. That youth must have been a stoic 
whose heart, if not devoted to some prior object, would 
not have been enslaved by this fair foreigner, then little 
more than fifteen." 

Caroline Matilda's observations in her progress through 
some parts of Germany, and upon the honours paid to her 
on her arrival on the frontiers of Denmark, with her re- 
ception in the capital, and opinions conceived of the Court, 
the Royal Family, the country, and its inhabitants, are fully 
detailed in a letter written to her brother, the Duke of 
York, after five weeks' residence in that kingdom. 



CAEOLINE MATILDA. 181 

" Copenhagen, Dec. 25, 1766. 
" SlE, AND DEAE BeOTHEE, 

" As this epistle will exceed the bounds of a 
common letter, you may call it Travels through part of 
Germany and Denmark, with some cursory remarks on the 
genius and manners of the people. 

"Our navigation, though fortunate enough, seemed to 
me tedious and uncomfortable. I almost wished a con- 
trary wind had driven me back to that coast from which I 
had sailed with so much regret. Were I a man, I think I 
should not envy you the mighty post of admiral, as I am 
a true coward on the main. Though I found the opposite 
shore very different from that of England, in regard to 
populousness, agriculture, roads, and conveniences for tra- 
velling, I was glad to be safely landed, and vowed to Nep- 
tune never to invade his empire ; only wishing that he 
would be graciously pleased to let me have another passage 
to the Queen of the Isles. What I have seen of Germany 
exhibits a contrast of barren lands, and some few culti- 
vated spots ; here and there some emaciated cattle, inhos- 
pitable forests, castles with turrets and battlements, out of 
repair, half inhabited by Counts and Barons of the Holy 
Empire : wretched cottages, multitudes of soldiers, and a 
few husbandmen ; pride and ceremonial on one side — 
slavery and abjection on the other. 

" As for Principalities, every two or three hours I 
entered the dominions of a new sovereign ; and indeed 
often I passed through the place of their highnesses 5 resi- 
dence without being able to guess that it was the seat of 
these little potentates. I only judged, by the antiquity 
of their palaces, falling to ruins, that these princes may 
justly boast of a race of illustrious progenitors, as it 
seemed they had lived there from time immemorial. As 



1S2 THE ItOYAL PKIlSrCESSES. 

we judge of everything by comparison, I observed that 
there is more comfort, more elegance, more convenieitcy, 
in the villa of a citizen of London, than in these gloomy 
mansions, hung up with rotten tapestry, where a Serene 
Highness meurt cV ennui, in all the state of a monarch, 
amongst a few attendants, called Master of the Horse, 
Grand JEcuyer, Grand Chanilellan, without appointments. 
There is no such thing here as a middle class of people 
living in affluence and independence. 

" Both men and women of fashion affect to dress more 
rich than elegant. The female part of the burghers' 
families at Hamburgh and Altona dress inconceivably fan- 
tastic. The most unhappy part of the Germans are the 
tenants of little needy princes, who squeeze them to keep 
up their own grandeur. These petty sovereigns, ridicu- 
lously proud of titles, ancestry, and show, give no sort of 
encouragement to the useful arts, though industry, appli- 
cation, and perseverance are the characteristics of the 
German nation, especially the mechanical part of it. 

" The roads are almost impassable, the carriages of the 
nobility and gentry infinitely worse than the stage-coaches 
in England, and the inns want all the accommodation they 
are intended for. 

" You may easily imagine that the sight of a new queen, 
from the frontiers of the kingdom to the capital, brought 
upon my passage great crowds of people from the adjacent 
towns and villages ; yet I believe you may see more on a 
fair day from Charing Cross to the Royal Exchange than 
I have met upon the road from Altona to Copenhagen. 
The gentlemen and ladies who were sent to compliment 
me, and increase my retinue, made no addition to my 
entertainment ; besides the reservedness and gravity pecu- 
liar to their nation, they thought it was a mark of respect 



CAKOLIKE MATILDA. 183 

and submission never to presume to answer me but by 
monosyllables. 

"What I have seen of Danish Holstein and of the 
Duchy of Sleswick is well watered, and produces plenty of 
corn. The inhabitants of those countries differ little or 
nothing from other Germans. Some parts of Jutland 
consist of barren mountains ; but the valleys are in general 
well inhabited and fruitful. The face of the country pre- 
sents a number of large forests, but I did not see a river 
navigable for a barge of the same burden as those that 
come up the river Thames to London. Spring and au- 
tumn are seasons scarcely known here ; to the sultry heat 
of August succeeds a severe winter, and the frost continues 
for eight months, with little alteration. It seems as if the 
soil was unfavourable to vegetable productions ; for those 
that have been procured for my table, at a great expense, 
were unsavoury and of the worst kind. As game is here 
plentiful, and the coasts generally well supplied with fish, 
I could have lived very well upon these two articles, had 
they been better dressed ; but their cookery, which is a 
mixture of Danish and German ingredients, cannot be 
agreeable to an English palate. 

" I shall not attempt to learn the language of the 
country, which is a harsh dialect of the Teutonic. The 
little French and High Dutch I know will be of great 
service to me at Court, where they are generally spoken 
with a bad accent and vicious pronunciation. The peasants, 
as to property, are still in a state of vassalage, and the 
nobility, who are slaves at court, tyrannize over their in- 
feriors and tenants in their domains. These poor husband- 
men, with such discouragements to industry, are obliged 
to maintain the cavalry in victuals and lodging, likewise 
to furnish them with money. These disadvantages, added 



184 Tin: royal princesses. 

to their natural indolence, make this valuable class of 
people less useful and more needy than in free states, 
where they enjoy, in common with other subjects, that 
freedom which is a spur to industry. You must not expect 
any conveniency and accommodation in their inns ; all those 
I found upon the road had been provided by the Court. 

" Copenhagen, though a small capital, makes no con- 
temptible appearance at a distance. All the artillery of 
the castles and forts, with the warlike music of the Guards, 
and divers companies of burghers in rich uniforms, an- 
nounced my entry into this royal residence. I was con- 
ducted, amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants, to the 
palace, where the King, the Queen-Dowager, and Prince 
Frederick, her son, with the nobility of both sexes, who had 
on this occasion displa}^ed all their finery, received me 
with extraordinary honours, according to the etiquette. 

The 's youth, good-nature, and levity require no 

great penetration to be discerned in his taste, his amuse- 
ments, and his favourites. He seems all submission to the 

, who has got over him such an ascendancy as her 

arts and ambition seem likely to preserve. Her darling 
son, whom she wished not to be removed a step farther 
from the throne, is already proud and aspiring, like 
herself. 

" I have been more than once mortified with the supe- 
rior knowledge and experience for which the takes 

care to praise herself, and offended at the want of respect 

and attention in the P e. As such unmerited slights 

cannot be resented without an open rupture, I rather bear 
with them than disunite the royal family, and appear 
the cause of court cabals, by showing my displeasure. It 
seems the teaches his subjects, by example, the doc- 
trine of passive obedience. Few of the courtiers look like 



CAEOLIKE MATILDA; 185 

gentlemen, and their ladies appear in the circle inanimate, 
like the wax figures in Westminster Abbey. 

" I have been lately at Fredericksburg. It is a mag- 
nificent house, built in the modern taste, but ill-contrived, 
and situated in a moist, unhealthy soil, in the midst of a 
lake. The paintings and furniture are truly royal. 

" To remind me that I am mortal, I have visited the 
cathedral church of Eoschild, where the kings and queens 
of Denmark were formerly buried. Several of their monu- 
ments still remain, which are, as well as this ancient 
structure, of a Gothic taste. 

" As you flatter me with the pleasure of seeing you soon 
in Copenhagen, I postpone mentioning many other par- 
ticulars till this agreeable interview, and remain, with 
British sincerity, 

" Sir, and dear Brother, 

" Your most affectionate Sister, 

" Caroline Matilda." 

The above letter proves the good sense of the young 
Queen, and that, notwithstanding the craftiness and dis- 
simulation of the Dowager, she was aware of her designs 
and her manoeuvres. 

The death of the brother to whom the foregoing com- 
munication was penned, caused the following letter to be 
addressed by the Queen to her Eoyal Highness the Princess 
Dowager of Wales. 

" Madam, and revered Mother, 

" Give me leave to condole with your Eoyal 
Highness on the loss of your dutiful son, and my beloved 
brother, the Duke of York.* I feel, with my own grief, 

* He was born March 14, 1739, and died Sept. 7, 1767, at Monaco, 
in Italy. 



1S6 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

your sorrow. I beg you will convey the same sentiments 
to his Majesty the King, my brother. When I reflect on 
the circumstances of the untimely death of the amiable 
Prince, in a foreign land, and perhaps deprived of the com- 
fort and assistance he should have found in his native 
countiy, I still more lament his fate. I am extremely 
concerned for your Eoyal Highness' s indisposition, but I 
hope this melancholy event, which maternal tenderness 
cannot but severely feel, as it was ordered by the un- 
fathomable decrees of Providence, will be so far reconciled 
to your superior understanding and piety, as to adore and 
to submit. 

" I am, with great deference, 

" Madam, and revered Mother, 
" Your Royal Highness's respectful Daughter, 

" Caroline." 

The conduct of Matilda, on her arrival in Denmark, 
was such as left no room but for approbation ; possessing 
something of the hauteur by which her family are distin- 
guished, she certainly did not forget the dignity of her 
station. While the King, descending from his rank, made 
companions of his gay young courtiers, Matilda exacted 
the homage from the ladies of her Court to which her 
exalted station entitled her ; and, as was natural at her 
age, seemed more fond of the show and pageantry of 
royalty than desirous of political influence. Notwith- 
standing the vices of her husband, as he had a large fund 
of good nature and generosity, she might have avoided the 
calamities that too soon overtook her, had it not been for 
the insinuations of intriguing nobles, emulous for power, 
and the ceaseless manoeuvres of Juliana Maria. The accla- 
mations which resounded whenever Matilda appeared in 



/ 
/ 



CAKOLIKE MATILDA. 187 

public, smote on Tier heart as the death-knell of her am- 
bitious hopes of securing the crown of Denmark for 
Prince Frederick (her own son), then in his thirteenth 
year. Still, she did not relinquish her darling projects, 
even when her hopes were blighted by the tidings that filled 
all Denmark with exultation. She had, from the time the 
Queen's pregnancy was announced, secluded herself in a 
great measure from Court. For the last two months she 
buried herself, as it were, in her palace of Fredensborg, 
till, to complete her dismay, on the 15th of January, 1768, 
the thunder of a thousand pieces of ordnance, from the 
forts and fleets of Zealand, proclaimed the safe delivery of 
the Queen, and the birth of a male child. 

This was a fatal blow for Juliana Maria. She, however, 
resolved to have recourse to new stratagems, still keeping 
her favourite scheme of placing her own son on the throne 
in the background, as the point for which she strove. 
Under pretence of a necessity for the young King to ex- 
tend his knowledge, she next persuaded him to visit the 
different Courts of Europe. By this means she expected 
to diminish through absence the affection existing between 
him and his Queen, as well as to exclude the probability of 
more heirs to the throne ; further, she had some hope that 
the unwary and inexperienced Queen, being left behind, at 
the mercy of the cabal she had formed in her own favour, 
would commit some imprudences, by which she might be 
able to attack her character, and render her virtue suspected. 
The first step was easily taken in this artful plot : the 
young King was soon on his way to the Court of England, 
and Matilda, calm, tranquil, and cheerful, remained behind 
with her infant boy, to brave the rude storm that threat- 
ened to assail her future happiness. 

There might be volumes written on the expedition of 



1SS THE KOYAL PRINCESSES. 

the King of Denmark, and the eccentricities he dis- 
played. 

Of all the attendants upon him in this ill-advised excur- 
sion, Count BernstorfFe was the only one not likely to lead 
him into every kind of ruin. At the head of them was 
the extravagant and thoughtless Count Holke. A train 
of royal carriages awaited the King at Dover, but he pre- 
ferred taking a post-chaise, in his impatience to behold the 
capital. 

Christian VII. and George III. were cousins, but totally 
different in character and habits. Horace Walpole writes 
— " The King of Denmark came on Thursday, and I go 
up to-morrow to see him. It has cost three thousand 
pounds to new furnish an apartment for him at St. 
James's, and they say he will not go thither, suppos- 
ing it would be a confinement, but is to be at his own 
minister's, Dieden's." 

It is no part of the design of this work to trace the 
extravagances of which this young King was guilty, and 
the thoughtless acts of folly he committed while in Lon- 
don, where he was right royally entertained as the brother- 
in-law of the monarch, the husband of an English Princess, 
should be. Balls, concerts, illuminations, masquerades, 
military and nautical spectacles by turns diverted his 
mind; he was feasted in turn by the Princess Amelia, 
his wife's aunt ; the Princess Dowager, his mother-in-law ; 
the Duke of Northumberland, and the City of London. 
All sought to honour this Boyal relative of the English 
Court ; but all he did, and all that was done by those he 
brought with him, tended but to bring upon themselves 
contempt and ridicule. Without entering into the thousand 
and one stories of this Boyal visit, some of which are 
indeed good in their way, it is necessary to remark that the 



CAROLINE MATILDA. 189 

Royal guest's follies were not always on the wrong side of 
virtue. His profusion was enormous, his generosity un- 
restrained hy discretion, but he exhibited many traits of 
warm-hearted benevolence. It is recorded that when he 
admitted (xarrick to an audience, as a tribute to his talent, 
he repeated a line from Shakspeare in presenting to him a 
handsome snuff-box set with brilliants. The English King 
allowed for his expenses while over here five hundred dollars 
per dajr, but he contrived to get rid of five times that sum, 
besides drawing on the bank of Hamburgh for one hundred 
thousand dollars a month. This extravagant and ill-advised 
visit terminated October 3rd, 1768, when Christian took 
leave of the King, Queen, and Royal family ; and having 
made many magnificent presents, departed for the Court 
of Louis XV., a sovereign not at all calculated to improve 
his taste for domestic happiness on his return to Denmark. 
The excesses in which the King indulged during his 
stay there were far greater than even while in England, 
and some of them reached the ears of Queen Matilda, 
who, on learning that the King had bestowed a regiment 
of Danish cavalry on the son of the Duke of Duras, 
observed- — " He was a very good Frenchman, but a very 
bad politician." 

It is high time now to resume the thread of Caroline 
Matilda's personal history, which has been too long 
broken. 

Frederiksbourg, near Copenhagen, was her abode during 
the King's absence, and her conduct free from any re- 
proach. " Though courted and menaced by conflicting 
factions, she joined with none, nor showed the least am- 
bition for political power. She appeared to feel a truly 
maternal affection for her child, and, in spite of remon- 
strances, had the infant and nurse to sleep in her own 

o 



190 THE KOYAL PRINCESSES. 

apartment. She sometimes visited, and was visited by the 
Queen Dowager, but lived very retired. She was grown 
in stature, and appeared much more womanly than when 
she arrived in Denmark. The glow of robust health was 
on her cheek ; she often nursed her child ; and a more in- 
teresting object could scarcely be conceived than this 
lovely and lively young Queen playing with her babe. 

ct During this period of retirement she visited the 
houses of the farmers and peasants who resided near the 
palace, and though she could not converse fluently with 
these poor grateful people, she gained their warm hearts 
by her condescension in visiting their cottages, smiling 
graciously on their wives and daughters, and distributing 
useful presents. Thus innocently Queen Matilda passed 
her time during the travels of her wild and dissipated 
husband."* 

After the return of Christian to Denmark the great 
influence exercised by his wild associate, Count Holke, 
seems to have excited the Queen's jealousy, but she appears 
to have had no power, and the fact of his being, with cer- 
tain other obnoxious nobles, exiled from the Court, is 
rather to be attributed to the secret machinations of 
Juliana, the Queen-Mother. 

At this epoch an important character to the future 
destinies of Caroline Matilda appears on the scene of 
action : the famous Count Struensee, who, from an obscure 
condition and the profession of medical student, had risen 
to be the favourite and Prime Minister of Christian, whose 
notice he had casually attracted. He was the son of a 
respectable country clergyman in Holstein; his ruling 
passions were ambition and a love of pleasure. He accom- 
panied Christian to England, and it was on his return, 
* Danish MS. quoted in Brown's "Northern Courts." 



CABOLItfE MATILDA. 191 

while at Paris, that he formed an intimacy with 
Erneveld Brandt, a Dane of good extraction, afterwards 
his associate in crime and misfortune. The two expiated 
their offences by death, and their names are inseparably 
connected with the sad narrative of Queen Caroline 
Matilda. 

Brandt, vexed that Holke was preferred as the King's 
attendant into England, to his own exclusion, endeavoured 
to procure his ruin ; but being discovered, was banished 
the country. Struensee went to England, and on his 
way home met Brandt at Paris. They agreed that if 
Struensee could obtain enough influence on his return, 
it should be used in favour of the revocation of Brandt's 
sentence of exile. Struensee did progress in Boyal favour. 
On his arrival at Copenhagen he was presented to the Queen 
by his Danish Majest}^ as a medical man of great talents. 
He soon became Prime Minister, and the favourite of the 
Queen as well as her husband. In one of their domestic 
differences he contrived to reconcile them to each other ; 
soon after he obtained Brandt's recall from exile, and 
seemed to have reached the pinnacle of unlimited power. 
Jealousy was, however, created by the titles and favours 
bestowed on him, and the many changes in political 
measures he introduced, eventually led to his downfall. 
To these causes might be added the excesses which he 
encouraged instead of restricting, and by which he made- 
himself essentially the Royal favourite, and, still worse, the 
intimate associate of the amiable Caroline Matilda. 

The situation of the Queen was at this time very 
painful, and described in the following terms : — " The 
attachment of the King, if ever it deserved the name, thus 
alienated, partly in consequence of his own excesses and 
partly from the rival jealousies of Court parasites^ 
2 



192 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

had subsided from cold formality into cruel disrespect. 
He did not treat her even with common civility, and 
allowed her to be publicly insulted, in her own palace, by 
the Eussian Minister at Copenhagen. His resentment 
fell on all who were guilty of taking her part ; and his 
favourite cousin, the Prince of Hesse, was disgraced for no 
other crime." 

That Caroline Matilda was wholly free from blame is, 
perhaps, too much to say. The Prime Minister, who 
interested himself about her, having won her confidence, 
was the means of reconciling her with the King, as before 
noticed, which influence gave a handle to his enemies 
to procure his ultimate ruin. In the interviews with 
Struensee in public, this fact might, however, excuse the 
familiarity he assumed towards the Queen, apparently 
unchecked by her ; and he was even allowed to be seen 
dancing whole evenings with her. Her Majesty is said 
to have " walked her first minuet at the Court of 
Denmark.' ' Caroline Matilda has also been accused of 
indecorum in assuming a masculine attire. " When 
Queen Matilda rode out a-hunting, her attire too much 
resembled a man's. Her hair was pinned up closer than 
usual ; she wore a dove-coloured beaver hat, with a gold 
band and tassels ; a long scarlet coat, a frilled shirt, and a 
man's cravat ; while from beneath the coat was said to 
peep a more unfeminine appendage still, too much in 
keeping with the terminating spurs. That she made a 
noble figure mounted on a majestic steed, and dashing 
through the woods after the chase, her cheeks flushed 
with health and violent exercise, may readily be con- 
ceded." She was " a resolute and fearless horsewoman. 
Of this she gave a decided, though indiscreet proof within 
three days of the birth of her daughter, the Princess 



CAPvOLIKE MATILDA. 193 

Louisa, on the 4th of July, 1771, when, being out on 
horseback, the horse plunged and kicked, and backed into 
a dry ditch, while the Queen, sitting firm and undismayed, 
flogged and spurred the restive animal till she conquered, 
and rode home unhurt." 

The following picture of Caroline Matilda was presented 
by herself, when in exile, to Sir E. M. Keith, the British 
Minister, to whom she owed her rescue. The description 
of it is extracted from a Danish novel. 

"Over a marble table hung a portrait in a broad gilt frame. 
It represented a lady in a dress of bluish satin, embroi- 
dered with gold and edged with lace ; the sleeves and 
puffs over the full bosom being of brownish brocade, 
Bound her neck was a closely-strung necklace of pearls, 
and similar rings were in the ears. The hair was turned 
up and powdered : it occupied a height and breadth which, 
agreeably to the fashion of the times, exceeded that of 
the whole face, and was decorated with a gold chain, 
enamels, and jewels, entwined with a border of blonde, 
which hung down over one ear. The face was oval, the 
forehead high and arched ; the nose delicately curved; the 
mouth pretty large, the lips red and swelling; the eyes large, 
and of a peculiarly light-blue, mild, and at the same time 
serious, deep, and confiding. I could describe the entire 
dress, piece by piece, and the features trait by trait ; but 
in vain should I endeavour to convey an idea of the pecu- 
liar expression, the amiable loftiness, or lofty amiableness, 
which beamed from that youthful face, the freshness of 
whose colour I have never seen surpassed. It needed not 
to cast your eye upon the purple mantle, bordered with 
ermine, which hung carelessly over the shoulder, to 
discover in her a Queen! She could be nothing of 
inferior rank. This the painter, too, had felt, for the 



191 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

border of the mantle was so narrow as almost to be over- 
looked. It was as though he meant to say, ' This woman 
would be a Queen without a throne!' " 

There is scarcely space to describe in a work of these 
limits the grandeur of the Court of Denmark at this epoch. 
At Hirschholm, a country palace some miles from the 
capital, the Foreign Ministers dined two days in the week 
at the King's, or rather the Queen's table. This Eoyal 
residence in 1772 represented all the luxury and magni- 
ficence of the age of Louis XIV. " Adorned externally 
with all the newest French refinements in gardening and 
pleasure-grounds, it dazzled the eye within by the profu- 
sion of solid silver, intermingled with mother-of-pearl and 
rock crystal, with which not only pictures and looking- 
glasses, but even the very panels of the Audience- 
chamber were prodigally encircled." Such was the 
change in this place from the subsequent circumstances 
which befel the ill-fated Caroline Matilda, that Coxe, who 
wrote of its condition ten years later, in 1784, says, " The 
suite of apartments at Hirschholm is princely, but deserted, 
and without furniture, not having been inhabited since 
the exile of Queen Caroline Matilda, who made it her 
favourite residence. The place is so entirely neglected, 
that the court-yard is overrun with weeds, and the moat a 
green-mantled pool." Later still it appears the palace 
had disappeared altogether, and its site was occupied by a 
simple village church. 

" On their return from the Drawing-room to their re- 
spective apartments, the Foreign Ministers found a ticket 
on their dressing-table, specifying where they were to 
dine; some at the King's table, others at the Lord Chamber- 
lain's, in the chamber called the Eose. The usual number 
that sat down to dinner at the King's table was twelve ; 



CAEOLIKE MATILDA. 195 

alternately five ladies and seven gentlemen, seven ladies 
and five gentlemen. The King cut a wretched figure on 
these occasions; not so the Queen, who dressed very 
superbly, and made a noble and splendid appearance. The 
King and Queen were served on gold plate by noble pages; 
the Marshal of the Palace sat at the foot of the table, the 
chief lady of the household at the head : the company, 
a lady and gentleman alternately, opposite to the King 
and Queen. 

" A table of eighty covers was provided every day in 
the Rose, for the great officers of state, who were served 
on silver plate : at this table Struensee, Brandt, with 
their friends and favourites, male and female, used to 
dine." 

It was shortly after the return of Christian from his 
fruitless travels, that, in company with his Queen, he paid 
a visit to Count Rautzau, at Aschberg, during which 
every day was devoted to amusement — " music, hunting, 
fishing, sailing on the lake, and rustic sports, which more 
than any pastime pleased the imbecile King." 

So pleased was Caroline Matilda by the Count's enter- 
tainment, that she presented him with a superb snuff-box, 
richly set with brilliants, that had cost her husband one 
thousand guineas in London. This very man was destined 
to play a prominent part in her approaching downfall. 

An Order of Knighthood was established, of which the 
fourth who received the honour was Struensee, whom the 
King had loaded with favours, and elevated to the dignity 
of a Count. 

The Queen had received a short visit from her mother, 
the Princess of Wales, in 1770 ; she had not quitted Eng- 
land for the space of thirty-four years previously, from the 
date of her marriage. After visiting the Lady Augusta, 



196 TIIE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

Duchess of Brunswick, she came for a brief space to the 
Danish Court, where she was received by her daughter, 
who had been reviewing her troops, " in regimentals with 
buckskin breeches." The Princess of Wales must have 
been struck with so novel a costume, and one certainly ill- 
adapted for the wearer on account of her embonpoint. 
Her mother lamenting to her the fall of BernsdorfTe, the 
ancient servant of the family, the Queen of Denmark is 
reported to have replied, " Pray, madam, allow me to 
govern my own kingdom as I please!" Bernsdorffe, the 
King's Prime Minister, had been devoted to the cause of 
Russia, and while the King had been absent, the Russian 
minister had treated the Queen with great want of 
respect. Caroline Matilda being of a dauntless spirit, 
took upon herself to order him to quit Denmark, and, on 
the King's return, feeling his incapacity and her own 
courage, she assumed such an ascendant over him, that 
she not only got rid of his favourite, young Count Holke, 
but, aided by the King's physician, who was thought to 
be equally dear to both their Majesties, she dismissed 
Bernsdorife and all the old ministry, flung herelf into the 
French faction, and transferred the whole power of the 
government to the beloved physician, Struensee. 

There was, however, a counter-party to that of the 
Queen, in the adherents of the Queen Dowager, who 
gained over Count Rautzau to her side, he being dis- 
satisfied at not being one of the new ministrj^. The 
Queen Mother strove to make the King contemptible and 
the Queen odious in the eyes of the people. She even 
caused certain calumnies to be circulated about the young 
Princess Royal, Louisa, whose birth was declared to be 
spurious. Through all sorts of channels, Juliana Maria 
prepared the way for the fatal revolution which was to 



CAROLINE MATILDA. 197 

abolish the authority of the too feeble monarch, and 
destroy for ever the happiness of the unfortunate Caroline 
Matilda. The 17th of January, 1772, a masked ball was 
to take place — the occasion fixed on by the revolutionary 
party. 

There is no doubt that the Queen and her adherents 
perceived the storm which threatened them, but no precau- 
tions had been taken against any such secret machinations. 
Struensee, immersed in pleasure, and intoxicated with his 
high fortunes, had not watched sufficiently closely the 
movements of the artful Queen Dowager; and the Queen 
placed her security in her conscious innocence. She had, 
indeed, presented, through Struensee to the King, the fol- 
lowing memorial, in reply to the attack of Juliana's secret 
emissaries — " Had I been raised from obscurity to. a throne, 
the ambitious and wicked Juliana might have expected a 
pusillanimous submission to her will and pleasure, and 
your Majesty might have imagined that a crown of golden 
thorns should make me bear it with patience and resigna- 
tion, but, descended as I am from an illustrious race of 
sovereigns, and sister to a monarch who yields to none in 
the universe for power and extent of dominion, can I put 
up with more insults, outrages, and indignity, than any 
person in a private station ever met with from the most 
inveterate and the' most ungenerous enemy? Had not 
my conduct bidden defiance to blame and slander, I might 
account for so many repeated injuries ; but the conscious- 
ness of my virtue, and " the regard I owe to royalty, 
demand justice from a King who cannot deny it to his 
wife, since he is bound to see the meanest of his subjects 
righted. I am determined to bring to detection and 
condign punishment my accusers, however exalted may 
be their rank, and great their power. They have aimed 



19S THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

at my reputation. I should not be surprised if their 
next daring attempt was to deprive me of regalities, 
liberty, and life. If you are unconcerned for me and your 
offspring, perhaps self-preservation will awaken you to 
snatch in time the reins from the hands of a perfidious 
and base woman, ere she hurries us both into destruction. 
Mind this information from the injured Caroline Matilda." 

So great a secrecy was preserved in the conspiracy, that 
it was not until the Queen, Struensee, and many other ob- 
noxious nobles, who till the close of evening had played cards 
with the King, were actually arrested, that any one had 
a suspicion of the extraordinary event that had taken 
place. 

Prince Frederick, son of Juliana Maria, had quitted the 
ball at eleven o'clock to concert measures with his 
mother. When the Queen and her partisans were seized, 
the King was compelled to sign an order for their impri- 
sonment. Certain emissaries of the Queen Dowager had 
been hired to cry out "Justice against Matilda and her lover, 
Struensee. Yivat Regina Juliana !" and Count Rautzau, in 
his violent treatment of the unfortunate Queen, made it 
his pretence that he was withdrawing her from the fury 
of the populace. # 

It was at this crisis that the noble-minded ambassador, 
Sir Robert Murray Keith, the Minister of England in 
Denmark, rushed into the presence of those who would 
have pronounced on the fair and devoted victim of ambi- 
tion a premature and fatal sentence, and denounced the 
swift vengeance of his country on any person who should 

The masked ball was given annually at Copenhagen, when the 
whole Court was accustomed to be present, and the populace were 
wont to assemble outside, where an ox, roasted whole, was distributed 
among them. 



CAROLINE MATILDA. 199 

dare to injure a single hair of her sacred head ! The name 
of this man ought indeed to be dear to the hearts of the 
English ! The Order of the Bath was transmitted to him in- 
stantly by the English King, on hearing what had occurred. 
Caroline Matilda herself had remained in the ball-room 
that night up to three o'clock, some hours later than the 
King, after having danced with Struensee, and had fallen 
into a tranquil sleep, when a Danish attendant woke her, 
and presented to her the written paper signed by the King 
of Denmark, requesting her immediately to prepare to 
depart to one of the Eoyal palaces in the country for a few 
days. At one glance she comprehended the extent of her 
misfortune. She thought to go to the King, and rushed 
into the adjoining chamber. There she was stopped by 
the sight of Count Rautzau, and she returned to endea- 
vour to put on some of her apparel. She had scarcely 
time to effect this, when she found her passage was ob- 
structed by soldiers. The men fell on their knees, saying, 
" It is a sad duty ; but we must perform it !" She rushed 
across their muskets onwards, but the King had been re- 
moved to another part of the palace. Further resistance 
was useless. The unfortunate young Queen was sent to 
the Castle of Cronenburg, on a charge of high treason, 
and at first treated with very great severity. She was 
wholly ignorant of the fate that awaited her, though she 
had reason to fear the worst was intended. She was 
permitted to inhabit the apartment of the governor of 
the castle, and to walk upon the side batteries, or the 
leads of the terrace. Through the remonstrances of the 
English Minister her treatment was afterwards mitigated, 
and more deference shown to her than when first placed 
within those walls. It was at this crisis the two follow- 
ing letters were written by the imprisoned Queen. 



200 THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

Iii the anguish of her heart Caroline Matilda wrote the 
following letter, which, though originally intercepted by an 
officer of the guards, came eventually to public knowledge: — 

" To Sir Robert Keith, Envoy from Great Britain. 
" From the first day of my iniquitous arrest and severe 
captivity, I foresaw that the rage of my enemies would 
insist upon the loss of my liberty and life. I am per- 
fectly resigned to my fate either way ; but the thought 
of my reputation being tarnished, and my dear children 
abandoned to the mercy of a people unjustly prejudiced 
against the legitimacy of their birth, overwhelms me with 
the most poignant grief. Has the King, my brother, then, 
abandoned me ? Great God ! will no one, then, avenge 
my innocence and my memory ? I doubt whether my 
merciless Arguses will suffer this letter to reach you : in 
case you receive it, continue to do me all the good offices in 
your power. I shall never forget the zeal which you have 
testified in the cause of innocence ; and if ever Heaven 
should restore me to the rank and pre-eminence from 
which I have been so unjustly degraded, you shall have 
more convincing proofs of my gratitude. Oh ! were I in 
England, my dear country, where the meanest criminal has 
the privilege of being tried by his peers ! Am I forgot by 
the whole universe ? I am greatly fallen away, and my 
health is much impaired since I have been immured with- 
in these walls. There is not a single person about me 
whom I do not suspect, and I despair of ever recovering 
my liberty. For the love of God endeavour to visit me. 
The time approaches when my trial will take place, but I 
am apprehensive my sentence is already determined. I 
pray God he will take you under his holy protection. 

" Matilda. 

" Cronenburg, April 11, 1772." 



CAROLINE MATILDA. 201 

The Queen wrote, about the same time, another letter 
to the King of Denmark, of which the following is an 
exact copy : — 

" SlBE, 

" If justice and humanity dwell yet in your 
royal breast. I have an undoubted right, as your most in- 
jured wife, to claim your Majesty's protection from this 
vale of misery. Your honour is impeached as well as my 
virtue ; if the sense of both can inspire you with tender 
feelings for my inexpressible woes, and the indignities 
offered to supreme authority by the most flagitious com- 
bination of all the horrid engines the blackest calumnies 
could play to blast my innocence and reputation, I appeal 
to your Majesty's own conviction of my spotless and in- 
violable fidelity. I do not entreat mercy, but I demand 
justice. Were your heart callous to my inexpressible 
sufferings, sure what you owe to yourself, and the dear 
pledges of conjugal affection, should call for the utmost 
exertion of your power to maintain your prerogative that 
has been so daringly encroached upon, and to avenge the 
outrages. I have been forced to submit to by an un- 
paralleled confederacy of traitors determined to snatch the 
sceptre from your hands, and to sacrifice your guiltless 
consort and your own progeny to their wicked ambition. 
I wish for a fair trial, and that I may face and confound 
my accusers, To the Supreme Judge, who knows all 
hearts and all motives, I submit the justice of my cause. 

" Matilda." 

The King was not permitted to make an answer. 

The death of the Princess of Wales at this most painful 
and critical epoch in her daughter's life must have been a 
severe domestic affliction. " She had existed on cordials 



202 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

alone," says Walpole, "for the last ten days, from the 
time she had received the fatal news from Denmark, and 
died before she conld hear again from her daughter." 

Struensee and Brandt were put to an ignominious death. 
When the Queen heard of it she said to Miss Mostyn, her 
maid of honour — "Unhappy men! they have paid dearly 
for their attachment to their King and zeal for my service." 

The Queen would herself have fallen a victim to this 
shameful plot had nob George III. sent orders to his 
Ambassador to demand that she should be set at liberty. 
The request was not, however, complied with till an Eng- 
lish squadron appeared to enforce it. Sir Eobert Keith 
having obtained an order for the release of the Eoyal 
prisoner, with the promise of a pension of 5000Z. a year 
for the support of her household and dignity, set off to 
convey the happy tidings in person, having been appointed 
to accompany her into the Electorate of Hanover, Zell 
being the future residence allotted to her by her brother. 

Caroline Matilda received the tidings with a flood of 
tears, and joyfully embraced the messenger of freedom, 
whom she addressed as her deliverer. She prepared at 
once to depart from the scene of so much sorrow, but the 
order for departure did not permit her infant daughter to 
accompany her. The child she had only just before been 
nursing at her bosom was to remain behind ! She was 
overcome with grief at this new stroke of fate, and could 
scarcely be prevailed on to accept her freedom on such 
hard conditions. She smothered the babe with her caresses, 
and finally parted from it in an agony worse than death. 
As long as the vessel remained in sight, her straining eyes 
sought eagerly the spot where it had been left ! They 
were parted, alas ! for ever ! The babe was then only nine 
months old, and from that time was brought up with her 



CAKOLIKE MATILDA. 208 

brother the Prince, at Copenhagen. The tenderest love 
united these orphan children, who were very dear to the 
people. Louisa Augusta eventually married the Duke of 
Augustenbourg. 

The following lines are believed to have been written 
at sea by the Queen of Denmark during her passage to 
Stade, 1772:— 

At length from sceptred care and deadly state, 
From galling censure, and ill-omened hate, 
From the vain grandeur where I lately shone, 
From Cronsbourg's prison, and from Denmark's throne, 
I go! 

Here, fatal greatness ! thy delusion ends ! 
A humbler lot the closing scene attends. 
Denmark, farewell ! a long, a last adieu ; 
Thy lessening prospect now recedes from view ! 
No lingering look an ill-starred crown deplores ; 
Well pleased I quit thy sanguinary shores. 
Thy shores, where, victims doom'd to state and me, 
Fell hapless Brandt and murdered Struensee ! 
Thy shores — where, ah ! in adverse hour I came, 
To me the grave of happiness and fame ! — 
Alas ! how different then my vessel lay ; 
What crowds of flatterers hastened to obey ! 
What numbers flew to hail the rising sun ; 
How few now bend to that whose course is run ! 
By fate deprived of fortune's fleeting train, 
Now "all the oblig'd desert, and all the vain;" 
But conscious worth, that censure can control, 
Shall 'gainst the charges arm thy steady soul, — 
Shall teach the guiltless mind alike to bear 
The smiles of pleasure, or the frowns of care. 
Denmark, farewell ! for thee no sighs depart ; 
But love maternal rends my bleeding heart. 
Oh ! Cronsbourg's tower, where my poor infant lies, 
Why, why, so soon recede you from my eyes ! 
Yet stay, ah me ! nor hope nor pray'r avails ; 
For ever exil'd hence — Matilda sails. 



1204 TIIE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Keith ! form'd to smooth the path affliction treads, 
And dry the tear that friendless sorrow sheds ; 
Oh, generous Keith ! protect their helpless state, 
And save my infants from impending fate ! 
Far, far from deadly pomp each thought remove, 
And as to me, their guardian angel prove ! 
Yes, Julia ! noio superior force prevails, 
And all my boasted resolution fails ! * 

" This exalted sufferer was never greater than during the 
later years which she spent in her retirement. She was 
no longer a } r oung unguarded Princess, whose levities had 
given her enemies too favourable an opportunity to effect 
her fall. She had learned in the school of adversity, and 
from the malevolence of Juliana, who had misconstrued even 
her virtues into vices, to act with such prudence and cir- 
cumspection as to command a personal respect, independent 
of majesty, without being less admired for her gracious 
condescension and most endearing affability. She appeared 
at Zell in her true and native character, divesfced of the 
retinue and pomp which, on the throne of Denmark, veiled 
her, in a great degree, from the inspection of impartial 
judges. She displayed in her little Court all the princely 
and social qualities calculated to charm her visitors and 
attendants ; there was in her person such grace and dignity 
as could not fail to gain her universal love. Though she 
excelled in all the exercises befitting her sex, birth, and 
station, and danced the first minuet in the Danish Court, 
she never indulged herself in this polite amusement, of 

* Many literary productions of this ill-fated young Queen are still 
extant, which evince her highly cultivated mind and intellectual 
powers. Her literary tastes were of a very high order, and her 
" Historical Commentaries " on her own and other times, surprising, 
wlteo her extreme youth is taken into consideration. Her letters are 
all of them evidences of sense, feeling, and judgment, and betoken a 
spirit of the noblest intellectual order. 



CAROLINE MATILDA. 205 

which she had been excessively fond, since the masked 
ball, the conclusion of which had been so fatal and disgrace- 
ful to her Majesty. As one of her pretended crimes had 
been the delight she took in riding, and the uncommon 
address and spirit with which she managed the horse, she 
renounced also this innocent diversion, for fear of giving 
the least occasion to the blame and censures of the ma- 
licious or ignorant. 

" Her Majesty had an exquisite taste for music, and 
devoted much of her time to the harpsichord, accompanied 
by the melodious voice of a lady of her Court. There was 
in her dress a noble simplicity, which exhibited more taste 
than magnificence. As her mind had been cultivated by 
reading the works of the most eminent writers among the 
moderns, she read regularly two hours before dinner, with 
Miss Schulemberg, whatever her Majesty thought most 
conducive to her instruction or entertainment in poets and 
historians ; communicating to each other their observa- 
tions with equal freedom and ingenuity. She improved 
the knowledge she had acquired of the German language, 
and had a catalogue of the best authors of that nation, to 
enable her to converse fluently on subjects of literature 
with men of taste and erudition. As her manners were 
the most polished, graceful, and endearing, her Court be- 
came the resort of persons of both sexes, celebrated for 
their love of the fine arts. The contracted state of her 
finances could not restrain that princely magnificence and 
liberal disposition which made her purse ever open to 
indigent merit and distressed virtue. Naturally cheerful, 
and happy in the consciousness of her innocence, adored 
and revered by the circle of a Court free from cabals and 
intrigues, even the dark cloud of adversity could not alter 
the sweetness and serenity of her temper. There she was 

p 



206 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

surrounded with faithful servants, who attended her, not 
from sordid motives of ambition, but from attachment and 
unfeigned regard. They were not the spies and emissaries 
of an artful, imperious, and revengeful woman, or the evil 
counsellors of a wretched King, the first slave of his de- 
bauched and profligate Court. Peace, content, and harmony 
dwelt under her Majesty's auspices, whose household was 
like a well-regulated family, superintended by a mistress 
who made her happiness consist in doing good to all those 
who implored her compassion and beneficence. 

" Banished with every circumstance of indignity from 
the throne of Denmark, her noble soul retained no senti- 
ment of revenge or resentment against the wicked authors 
of her fall, or against the Danish people. Ambition, a 
passion incompatible with enjoyment, never disturbed her 
peace of mind : she looked back to the diadem which had 
been torn from her brow with a calmness and magnani- 
mity which Christina of Sweden could never attain after 
her abdication. It was not the Crown she regretted — her 
children only employed all her care and solicitude; the 
feelings of the Queen were absorbed in those of the 
mother." 

The following letter was addressed, about 1772, to her 
sister, the Duchess of Brunswick : — 

"Zell, August 27, 1772. 
"Madam, and dear Sister, 

" Thanks to heaven for having made me sensible 

of the futility and delusion of all worldly pomp and 

stately nothingness. 

"Believe me, when I tell you that I have not once 

wished to be again an enthroned Queen. Were my dear 

children restored to me, I should think if there is on this 

earth perfect happiness, I might enjoy it in a private 



CAKOI/CSrE MATILDA. 207 

station with them ; but the Supreme Disposer of all events 
has decreed that my peace of mind should he continually 
disturbed by what I feel on this cruel and unnatural sepa- 
ration. You are a tender mother, and I appeal to your 
own fondness. Pray give my love to the dear Augusta, 
and all her brothers : now that she is in her seventh year, 
she is, I dare say, an agreeable, chatty companion. 

"As for Charles, he is, I understand, like his father, 
born a warrior — nothing but drums, swords, and horses, 
can please his martial inclinations. 

" George, Augustus, and William equally contribute to 
your comfort and amusement. Tell them I have some 
little presents I shall send them the first opportunity. 

" You desire to know how I vary my occupations and 
amusements in this residence. I get up between seven 
and eight o'clock ; take a walk in the gardens, if the 
weather permits ; give my instructions to the gardener 
for the day ; observe his men at work, with that contented 
mind which is a continual feast ; return to the castle for 
breakfast ; dress myself from ten to eleven ; appear in my 
little circle at twelve ; retire to my apartment about one ; 
read or take an airing till dinner; walk again in the 
gardens, for about an hour, with some ladies of my retinue ; 
drink tea, play upon the harpsichord ; sometimes a little 
party at quadrille before supper; and am commonly in 
bed before twelve. 

" Every Monday I receive petitions from real objects of 
compassion, and delight in relieving their necessities, 
according to my power ; go twice to chapel every Sunday; 
and thus every week passes in a regular rotation of rational 
conversation, lectures amusantes et instructives, musical 
entertainments, walks, and little curious needlework. I 
see everybody happy around me, and vie with each other in 
p3- 



208 THE KOTAL PEINCESSES. 

proofs of zeal and affection for my person. Now I can 
truly say I cultivate friendship and philosophy, strangers 
to the throne. 

" I expect to see you soon, according to your promise ; 
this visit will add greatly to the comfort of } T our most 
affectionate sister, 

"Caroline Matilda.'' 

Subsequently an attempt was made by certain Danish 
nobles to create a counter-revolution in favour of Caroline 
Matilda, and place her once more on the throne, not as 
Queen Consort only, but as Regent during her son's 
minority, the King being in a state of hopeless mental 
imbecility. On this occasion Sir Nathaniel Wraxall was 
their emissary, and appointed to deliver a letter to the 
Princess explanatory of the enterprise, which as a necessary 
preliminary included the dethronement of Juliana Maria. 
The Duchess of Brunswick, sister of the Queen, and niece 
by marriage to the Queen Dowager, who might have been 
a dangerous witness, was present when Sir N. Wraxall 
handed this important missive to the much-injured Queen ; 
who, on its receipt, wrote three letters on the subject, one 
of which was to her brother; the other two to Lord 
Suffolk, Secretary of State, and Baron Lichtenstein. The 
result of this was, that Sir Nathaniel was put in possession 
of a paper containing, in French, four articles expressing 
the King's approval of the intended plan : 1. That no 
act of violence should be employed against those now in 
power. 2. That if successful, the English Minister at 
Denmark should proclaim his co-operation. 3. By which 
he declined pecuniary measures in favour of the scheme, 
but offered to provide for the Queen's personal return to 
the country of Denmark. 4. By which, if the enterprise 



CAKOLINE MATILDA. 209 

did succeed, the British forces should maintain it. On 
returning to Zell with this document, the Ambassador 
had an interview with the Queen, who entered the room 
without any attendant, doubtless by design, on account 
of the nature of the subject to be discussed. " After 
expressing regrets that her brother had not admitted me 
to a personal interview, and hopes that the stipulation 
I had brought from England would satisfy the party 
engaged in her interests, with great animation she assured 
me that no sentiment of revenge or animosity towards 
the Queen Dowager, or Prince Frederic, or any of the 
individuals who had arrested or imprisoned her would 
ever actuate her conduct. The mention of these names 
naturally led her to speak of the memorable night of the 
16th of January, 1772, when she fell a victim to her 
imprudence and want of precaution. I would (says 
Wraxall) have avoided such a topic, for obvious reasons, 
but she entered on it with so much determination, that 
I could only listen while she recounted to me all the 
extraordinary occurrences which befel her, not omitting 
names and particulars respecting herself and others of the 
most private nature. I am, however, far from meaning 
that she made any disclosure unbecoming a woman of 
honour and delicacy." 

Delays, however, occurred, and occasioned several jour- 
neys between Zell and London. Wraxall describes his 
latest interview with the ill-fated Queen : — 

" The room (the Queen's Library) was fully lighted 
up, and in about half an hour she entered the apart- 
ment. She was elegantly dressed in crimson satin, and 
impressed me as having an air of majesty, mingled with 
condescension, altogether unlike an ordinary woman of 
condition. Our interview lasted two hours. She assured 



210 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

me she would write the letter demanded by the Danish 
nobility to her brother before she retired to rest ; and as 
to the question put to me (added she), whether I should 
be ready to set out for Copenhagen, assure them that I 
am disposed to share every hazard with my friends, and 
to quit this place upon the shortest notice. To obtain 
my brother's permission for that step (which I cannot 
take without his consent and approbation) shall form one 
of the principal objects of my letter to him. 

" These material points being settled, our conversation 
took a wider range, and as her Majesty showed no dispo- 
sition to terminate it, we remained together till near 
eleven. When ready to leave me, she opened the door, but 
retained it a minute in her hand, as if willing to protract 
her stay. She had never perhaps been more engaging 
than that night, in that attitude and in that dress. Her 
countenance, animated with the prospect of her approach- 
ing emancipation from Zell (which was, in fact, only a 
refuge and an exile), and restoration to the throne of 
Denmark, was lighted up with smiles, and she appeared to 
be in perfect health." In seven weeks from that time, 
the young, the beloved Caroline Matilda was no more ! 

Wraxall reached London April 5, 1775, but Baron Lich- 
tenstein, the medium of communication with the King, 
who could not safely grant a personal interview, being 
absent in Hanover, the business was delayed till May 
10th, when the Baron wrote to Wraxall to await in 
London for his next despatch, and gave him favourable 
tidings of the progression of the matter in which they 
were interested. On Friday, May 12, Caroline Matilda, 
at that moment when the very point of time " to the day 
and hour" for her restoration to power was fixed, was 
lying either insensible or about to breathe her last when 



CAKOLI]SrE MATILDA. 211 

the despatch which confirmed the full assent of the Eng- 
lish King to all her wishes arrived at Zell ! It was 
thence returned with its seal unbroken to the writer! 

Lord Suffolk wrote to Sir R. M. Keith in these terms, 
announcing the distressing tidings : — 

"London, May 13th, 1775. 
"Deae Keith, 

" News is just arrived of our Queen of Den- 
mark's death. She died of a putrid fever and sore throat 
on the 10th of this month. 

" Yours ever most truly, 

"Suffolk." 

A lady of the deceased Queen's household wrote the 
following passage in a letter to an influential person at the 
Court of Copenhagen : — 

" Zell, May 15th, 1775. 

" The epidemic with which we were threatened no longer 
exists here, having carried off in the chateau only a page, 
besides our beloved Queen, so deservedly the object of 
not only our own, but the most general regrets. Her 
Court, where she was idolized, is overwhelmed with grief, 
notwithstanding their firm persuasion that our worthy 
Sovereign will take care of them. But it is for herself she 
is so deplored ; and you cannot imagine the distress and 
consternation which spread through the whole town, when 
she was understood to be in danger. She was indeed so, 
from the first moment of her seizure, in the opinion of our 
clever physician, Leyser ; and was herself at once aware of it, 
saying to him, in express terms, ' You have brought me, 
since October, through two pretty serious illnesses, but this 
one will baffle you ;' and she spoke but too truly. The fever 
showed its violence from the beginning, by a pulse of 130, 



212 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

and for the last two days it was past counting. Leyser 
sent for Zimmermann, from Hanover, who came to his aid, 
but without effect. 

"The eruption did come out, but it was with spots, 
which indicated its violent nature ; and to this cruel dis- 
ease, and the decrees of an immortal Providence, we owe 
our unspeakable loss. After having suffered like a Chris- 
tian, with the most perfect, nay, almost unexampled, 
patience and resignation — testifying, as usual, the most 
gracious and tender attentions towards the ladies who 
nursed her through her illness, and retaining her senses 
and speech to the last moment, she terminated her career 
in a manner which edified and penetrated with admiration 
all who witnessed it. She saw both our worthy superin- 
tendent Jacobi, and the pastor Lehsen, who never left 
her, and to whom she pointed out several times what he 
should read to her ; and among other things, that beau- 
ful hymn of Gellert, on the ' Love of Enemies,' ' Never 
will I seek to do them harm,' &c, frequently repeating 
the last verse." 

Caroline Matilda wrote two letters with her own hand 
at the first seizure of this fatal malady, one to the King of 
England, and the other to the King of Denmark. " After 
they were sealed, she said, with tears in her eyes, ' I hope 
the King, my brother, will protect my friendless children ; # 

* While at Zell, a few months before her decease, this amiable 
Princess exhibited to Madame d'O , her first Lady of the Bed- 
chamber, a miniature of the Prince Royal, her son, which had just 
come to hand, which she regarded with transports of joy. This lady 
accidentally entered the apartment of her Royal mistress at a moment 
when her presence was not customary ; what was her surprise to hear 
her Majesty engaged in conversation, although quite alone; astonish- 
ment deprived her of the power of effecting a retreat, when the 



CAKOLItfE MATILDA. 213 

and that the King of Denmark will do my memory that 
justice he denied me while living. I freely forgive my 
persecutors and enemies, and will die in peace with all 
mankind and my conscience.'" She expired May 10th, 
1775, after a five days' illness, about midnight, not having 
yet attained her twenty-fourth year. 

At the funeral service in the great church the whole 
city was dissolved in tears ; and in the streets, while she 
yet lived, nothing was heard but lamentations and invoca- 
tions for the restoration to health of " unser guten und 
lieben Konigen" (our good and beloved Queen). A 
monument to her memory was afterwards erected by the 
nobility and States of the Duchy of Luneberg. 

She was deeply lamented by her countrymen, who, from 
the first, had asserted her innocence, and enthusiastically 
vindicated her cause. The King of Denmark was not 
allowed publicly to mourn for her loss ; but her memory 
was very dear to her people there. The inhabitants of 
Zell mourned long for their Royal benefactress. 

In January, 1784, the Crown Prince, who was in stature 
very like his father, was sixteen years of age. " His com- 
plexion was very fair, his eyebrows bushy for a youth of 
his age, his hair almost white." He was considered a 

Queen turned suddenly round, and beheld her embarrassed attendant. 
Sweetly smiling, she addressed these words to her: '' What must you 
think of a circumstance so extraordinary as that of hearing me talk, 
though you find me perfectly alone ? But it was to this dear and 
cherished image I addressed my conversation ; and what do you think 
I said to it? Nearly the same verses which you sent not long ago to 
a child, sensible to the happiness of having found her father, verses 
which I altered as follows : 

Eh ! qui done, comme moi, gouteroit le bonheur 
De t'appeler mon fils, d'etre chere a- ton cceur ! 
Toi qu'on arrache anx bras d'une mere sensible 
Qui ne pleure que toi, dans ce destin terrible.' " 



214 THE 310YAL PRINCESSES. 

plain likeness of Caroline Matilda, his mother. The Queen 
Dowager could not, with any plausibility, pretend that his 
mind, like his father's, was imbecile, but she prevented his 
taking his seat in the Council as long as she could. About 
a month after his solemn confirmation, the Prince was ad- 
mitted and took the oaths, when he addressed his father, 
stating that it was his intention, from that time, to adminis- 
ter the government himself, after which he dismissed the 
Council. Possessed of the same sentiments as his excellent 
mother, he did not pursue the guilty Juliana Maria with 
the punishment her crimes deserved, but contenting him- 
self with the recovery of his legal inheritance, evinced the 
most uniform forbearance and humanity. Frederick VI. 
became very dear to his people ; but no inducement would 
prevail on the English King to listen to his subsequent 
overtures for an union with his Eoyal family ; so that he 
subsequently married a Princess of Hesse Cassel, and at a 
later period became the ally of the Emperor Napoleon, 
whence originated the siege and surrender of Copenhagen 
in 1807, and the loss of Norway in 1814, the two king- 
doms having for centuries before been united. But for 
the death of Caroline Matilda, Norway might still have 
remained subject, and the Danish capital would never have 
been attacked or entered as it was by the English army. 
There are many events in history of the first importance, 
like this, to be traced to the influence and agency of woman. 
Juliana Maria was the active agent in the sad history 
which led to the disastrous events related, and which in- 
volved the destiny of the unfortunate and innocent Caroline 
Matilda. 

The numerous anecdotes still on record of the benevo- 
lence and goodness of heart of that amiable Princess, prove 
how worthy she was to reign ; and that heart must be cold 



CAEOLINE MATILDA. 215 

indeed which does not throb with sympathy for the pre- 
mature and unmerited fate of one so fair, so amiable, and 
so accomplished. The event left deep and indelible traces 
on the hearts of all her contemporaries, and the sad story 
has been related again and again, from the most aristocratic 
to the humblest hearth of our English homes. 



210 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA, 

PRINCESS EOYAL, ELDEST DAUGHTER OF GEORGE III., 
AFTERWARDS QUEEN OF WURTEMBERG. 

Queen Charlotte's accouchement — Birth of a Princess — Persons 
present — Queen hindered from witnessing the wedding of Princess 
Caroline Matilda — Cake and caudle — Accident to the visitors — 
Christening of the Princess Royal — Her sponsors — Accident to the 
nursery — Inoculation of Charlotte Augusta — Juvenile drawing- 
room — Death of her grandmother — Children removed from Rich- 
mond to Kew — Lady Charlotte Finch — Habits of the Royal 
family — Anecdote of the Queen's maternal affection — Removal to 
Windsor — Prince of Wales's birthday — Visit to Wimbledon- 
common — Royal family visit the Bishop of Winchester — Early at- 
tainments of the Princess Royal — Letters of Mrs. Delaney — 
Birthday of the Princess Royal — Bulstrode — A hunt — Visit to 
Court of the Duchess of Portland — Morning visit to the Queen — 
Cordiality of the King — Prince of Wales's birthday — Charlotte 
Augusta appears in public — Opens the ball — Sponsor for her brother 
Alfred — Birth of Amelia — Her baptism — King comes to Bulstrode 
— Queen and King both come next time — All the children with 
them — Present to Mrs. Delaney — Visit to Windsor — Infant Amelia 
brought in — Mrs. Siddons engaged to teach the younger Prin- 
cesses — Disturbance at the theatre — Handel Festival — Egham 
Races — Mrs. Delaney writes of the Court — Visit to Nuneham — 
Private visit to Oxford — Queen's birthdays— Private theatricals — 
Princess Royal sponsor again with her parents — Attempt on the 
King's life — Second visit to Nuneham — Second visit to Oxford — 
Whitbread's brewery — Royal family go to Cheltenham — Visit 
Tewkesbury — Go to Worcester — Meeting of the three choirs — Mrs. 
Siddons' reading — Aspiring suitor for the Princess — Royal visit to 
Weymouth — View several castles and seats — Water excursions — 
Lul worth Castle — Proposal from the Hereditary Prince of Wur- 
temberg for the Princess Royal — Aversion of the King and 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 217 

Queen to the match — The cause — The Prince doubly descended 
from the House of Hanover — His first wife a cousin of the 
Princess Royal — Inquiry as to the Prince's conduct towards 
her — Satisfaction given — Princess favours the suit — The Royal 
consent given — Message to the House of Commons — His re- 
ligious principles — Her dowry — Arrival of the Prince — His per- 
sonal appearance — Introduced to the Princess Royal — He starts on 
an inland tour — On his return, lodged in St. James's — The mar- 
riage — Drawing-room fete at Frogmore — Addresses of congratu- 
lation — Parting tears — Quits England — Lands at Cuxhaven — 
Visits Hanover — Re-married on her arrival at Stuttgardt — Duke of 

Cambridge and Prince Ernest of M present — Beloved by her 

new people — Manner of passing her time — Her husband succeeds 
to the Dukedom — His father a grandson of Dorothea, Queen of 
Prussia — Character — Fine library — Description of the Palace at 
Stuttgardt- — The Duke makes peace with France — Differences with 
his States — Becomes Elector — Wurtemberg converted into a king- 
dom — Assists Bonaparte in his conscriptions — His daughter mar- 
ried to Jerome Bonaparte — Marriage of his eldest son — Marriage of 
his daughter — Confederation of the Rhine — Character of the King 
—Frederick's Haven — His death — Succeeded by his son — Queen 
retires to Louisburg — Occasionally visits Deinach — Her benefi 
cence — George IY. pays her a visit — Duke of Clarence visits her 
in 1822 — Description of Deinach — Visit of the Duke in 1825 — 
Illness of Queen of Wurtemberg — Comes to England for advice — 
Returns — Escapes being wrecked — Her death — Funeral — Grief for 
her loss— Will of the Queen. 

The domestic manners of a nation always reflect the 
Court which presides over it, as the child looks np to its 
parent as a model for imitation. Example, higher in 
value than a thousand precepts, requires to be set forth 
from the first authority, and carries with it a never-failing 
predominance. If, from our own times, we cast a retro- 
spective glance to the reign of George III., we shall behold 
in the supreme rank all the most beautiful associations 
and exalted ties of human nature. Surrounded by all the 
cares and fatigues of Boyalty, the happily united and 
socially disposed King and Queen daily enjoyed every 



218 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

domestic endearment in the midst of their beautiful and 
promising offspring, themselves the centre and pattern of 
all their children's happiness. A more perfect picture can 
scarcely be found in all the pages of history, unless in our 
own still more felicitous times it be presented to future 
generations yet unborn. The entire harmony prevailing 
in the bosom of the Eoyal family afforded a fine lesson for 
the hearth of every domestic English circle. The subject 
of this memoir will be sufficient evidence of the happy 
effect of parental care. 

Charlotte Augusta Matilda, Princess Eoyal of England, 
was the eldest of the six daughters of George III. and 
Queen Charlotte. Her birth took place at Buckingham 
House, September 29th, 1766. Early in the morning of 
that day, messengers were despatched to the Princess 
Dowager of Wales, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the two 
Secretaries of State, and others of the Privy Council, all of 
whom obeyed the summons with great expedition. 
Between six and seven o'clock the infant Princess was 
born, of which joyful event the news was announced to the 
expectant public by the firing of the Tower guns at noon, 
followed by the ringing of bells, and other demonstrations 
of joy. This was the fourth accouchement of Queen 
Charlotte, who had before presented the nation with three 
royally promising boys — the Prince of Wales, and the 
Dukes of York and Clarence. 

Cake and caudle were provided at the Palace on the 
present occasion, according to the usual custom, but so 
great was the novelty and attraction in the circumstance 
of its being this time on account of a Princess, that great 
throngs assembled at St. James's, and many of the visitors 
of the gentler sex were nearly killed by the extraordinary 
rush for admittance when the doors were opened, which 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 219 

was not till five o'clock, by which time many thousands 
had assembled. The yeomen of the guard having admitted 
the foremost, kept others back with their battle-axes, but 
had some difficulty in clearing the entrance ; which, how- 
ever, being accomplished, they closed the gates, to the 
great mortification of the disappointed multitude without. 

Her Majesty had intended to be present at the solem- 
nization of the nuptials of the King's sister, Princess 
Caroline Matilda, with her cousin, the King of Denmark, 
on the 1st of October ; but the birth of her infant daughter, 
on the 29th of September, prevented her accomplishing 
her intention. 

On the 27th of October the Eoyal infant was christened 
by Archbishop Seeker, when her sponsors were, her two 
aunts, the newly-married Queen of Denmark, whose repre- 
sentative was the Countess of Effingham, and Princess 
Louisa, who attended in person; the King of Denmark 
was her godfather, the Duke of Portland being his proxy 
on the occasion. 

There is little to be said of the few first years of exist- 
ence, especially when nursed in the lap of luxury. Yet 
events transpired, momentous to the after-life of the child 
Princess. New members were added to her family, the 
associates and playmates of youth, the friends of later life. 
In the year after the birth of Charlotte Augusta Matilda, 
in 1767, was born her fourth brother, Edward, Duke of 
Kent, father of our present beloved Sovereign ; in 1768, 
Princess Augusta Sophia was added to the family group. 
About this period an accident occurred to the Eoyal 
nursery ; on the 19th of February a fire broke out, which 
had been for some days smothered, as appeared from the 
joists being burnt to a coal, but fortunately it was dis- 
covered in time to prevent serious consequences. 



220 THE UOYAL PRIKCESSES. 

Queen Charlotte patronized the new practice of inocu- 
lating for the small-pox, introduced in the reign of George 
II. Her eldest daughter and Prince William were inocu- 
lated, and placed under the care of Sir Clifton Wintring- 
ham, physician to his Majesty ; Sir John Pringle, the 
Queen's physician; Caesar Hawkins, Esq., sergeant-surgeon ; 
and Pennell Hawkins, Esq., surgeon to the Queen. The 
result was successful, the disease appearing with both the 
Royal children in the most favourable manner. On the 
24th of December they were pronounced out of danger, 
and on the 10th of January, 1769, appeared abroad per- 
fectly recovered. 

At the Queen's suggestion, the Princess Royal, when only 
three years old, was placed in a very conspicuous position. 
The object of her Royal mother was to entertain the minds 
of the people with a novel sight, and disarm the factious 
spirit just then so prevalent. A drawing-room was held 
at St. James's on the 25th of October, 1769, the anniver- 
sary of the King's accession, by the young Prince of 
Wales, then in his seventh year, and the Princess Royal, 
who was just three. As was expected, the Court was 
crowded to excess, everybody being anxious to witness how 
these sweet children would acquit themselves ; and their 
graceful deportment, and apt .performance of the part as- 
signed to them, made an impression never to be forgotten 
on that brilliant assemblage. The Prince of Wales was 
attired in scarlet and gold, with the insignia of the Order 
of the Garter ; on his right was the Prince Bishop of Os- 
naburg, in blue and gold, with the Order of the Bath : 
next to him, on a rich sofa, sat the Princess Royal, at 
whose right hand, elegantly clothed in Roman togas, were 
the junior Princes — William Henry, Duke of Clarence, and 
Edward, Duke of Kent. 



CHABLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 221 

At a juvenile ball, given at Buckingham Palace on the 
15th of March, 1770, this promising group of children 
was again brought into public notice; and well might 
Queen Charlotte calculate on the success of such an appeal 
to the hearts of the people. 

When the Princess Eoyal was in her sixth year, she lost 
her grandmother, the Princess Dowager of Wales. At 
the time, she was too young to appreciate this affliction as 
she would have done a few years later ; to the King, her 
father, it was indeed a heavy blow, who was not only ten- 
derly attached to his parent, but a filially devoted son. 
This affliction was followed by the removal of the Eoyal 
family from the Old Lodge, Eichmond, to Kew Palace — 
a change expected to prove advantageous to the health of 
the children. The Dukes of Sussex and Cambridge, and 
the Princess Sophia, were born at Kew, during the season 
it was made a Eoyal residence. 

Of the habits of the Queen of England and her young 
family at Kew, during the year 1773, the following 
account has been handed down : — " In the morning, while 
his Majesty was engaged in business, or in his study, the 
Queen employed herself in music, embroidery, or drawing, 
having generally the Princess Eoyal or some of the younger 
children with her, their improvement being one of her 
most favourite occupations. After spending an hour or 
two in this agreeable manner, the Eoyal party, with their 
attendants, either took an airing in the neighbourhood, or 
a walk in the gardens ; and so attentive was the Queen to 
her children, that she never trusted the youngest of 
them out of her sight on these occasions. While in the 
nursery, she visited them ; and when they had finished 
their lessons with Miss Planta, or the Eev. Mr. de Guif- 
fardiere, their French instructor, she had them brought 

a 



222 THE IIOYAL PRINCESSES. 

into her presence, examined their progress in learning, 
and gave them such commendation as she found they 
deserved." 

An incident is on record of good Queen Charlotte, which 
the mothers of England might do well to set forth for 
their example. On one occasion, when conversing with 

the Duchess of , she expressed great surprise that 

any lady who sent out her children for an airing could 
venture to entrust them to a servant's care, without in 
person accompanying the precious charge. The Duchess 
began to advocate the system ; but Queen Charlotte knew 
better. She arrested her remark by this forcible appeal — 
" You are a mother ; you now converse with a mother ; 
and I should be sorry you would compel me to suppose 
you were callous where you ought to be most suscep- 
tible !" 

The character and disposition of children are formed by 
the principles instilled into them from infancy by those 
who surround them ; what might not, therefore, be ex- 
pected from the daughters of Queen Charlotte, who per- 
sonally devoted her care to their mental improvement, as 
well as to rearing them in health, and who entertained so 
strict and exalted a sense of the maternal duties ! The 
lives of these amiable Princesses attest that her tender 
solicitude was not thrown away. They became exemplary, 
accomplished, and high-minded women. 

Lady Charlotte Finch, mother of the Earl of Win- 
chilsea, superintended the young scions of royalty morn- 
ing and evening in the nursery, which was likewise visited 
by the King in person, who shared with his consort the 
management of her offspring, and direction of their diet, 
exercise, and choice of preceptors. 

Of the food, we are told it was always homely, and free 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 223 

from luxury. The children all dined together at an early 
hour, in presence of the King and Queen, who afterwards 
rambled in the gardens at Richmond till their own dinner- 
hour, accompanied by their children " in pairs." After 
dinner, the Queen worked ; and the King, unless business 
prevented, read aloud some instructive or amusing work. 
In the evening, the children, before retiring to rest, were 
brought to pay their duty to their parents, and wish them 
adieu for the night. 

Their Majesties always rose at six, and enjoyed as their 
own the two succeeding hours. At eight, the four Princes 
and Princess Royal were brought from their several houses 
to Kew, to- breakfast with the King and Queen. At nine, 
the younger children made their first appearance ; and while 
the five eldest applied closely to their tasks, the little 
ones and then nurses passed the whole morning in Rich- 
mond gardens. Then came the dinner, as before de- 
scribed : and the daily routine was successively very much 
the same. 

In 1776 the family residence was fixed at Windsor, 
where the Prince of Wales's birthday was kept on August 
16th, with much solemnity ; the guns fired and bells rang. 
At ten o'clock the Royal party walked in procession from 
the Castle to the Cathedral, the Princesses following their 
Royal parents, and after them the Princes, two and two. 
The canons, poor knights, &c, met them at the door, and, 
after service had been performed, the Royal family walked 
amid the crowds familiarly, who thronged upon the Terrace. 
Three volleys, fired by the 23rd Regiment, drawn up in 
the Park, greeted them on the occasion, and were accom- 
panied by loud shouts of joy. 

About this time the Princess Royal accompanied her 
parents, the King and Queen, her two elder brothers, and 
q2 



224* THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Princess Augusta, with their suite,* to Wimbledon Com- 
mon, to the residence of a gentleman named Hartley, 
who had invented a plan to secure buildings from fire. 

Their Majesties, with the Princes and Princesses, first 
breakfasted in one of the rooms. " The tea-kettle was boiled 
on a fire made upon the floor of the opposite room, which 
apartment they afterwards entered and set a bed on fire, 
the curtains of which were consumed, with part of the 
bedstead, but not the whole, the flames, from the resis- 
tance of the floor, going out of themselves. Their Majes- 
ties then went down-stairs, and saw a horse-shoe forged in 
a fire made on the floor, as also a large faggot lighted, that 
was hung up to the ceiling instead of a curtain. After 
this, two fires were made upon the staircase, and one 
under the stairs ; all which burnt out quickly without 
spreading beyond the place where the fuel was first laid. 
Their Majesties paid the greatest attention to every ex- 
periment that was made, and expressed the utmost satis- 
faction at the discovery. The whole concluded by light- 
ing a large magazine of faggots, pitch, and tar, which 
burnt with amazing fury, but did no damage to the floor 
or ceiling. The Queen and the children displayed the 
utmost courage and composure in going up-stairs, and re- 
maining in the room immediately over that which was 
raging in flames beneath." 

Three or more days in every week were at this time 
(1778) passed by the King and Queen at Windsor during 
the summer months, the old Palace at Kew being still oc- 
cupied for the convenience of their children. 

Mrs. Chapone, niece of Dr. Thomas, Bishop of Win- 
chester, who had been preceptor to the Prince of Wales 

* Lady Charlotte Finch, Colonel Desaguelieres, and Colonel 
Hotham. 



CHABLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 225 

(afterwards George IV.)? was m the habit of passing much 
of her time at Farnham Castle, her uncle's residence. In 
a letter addressed by this lady to Mr. Burrows, Aug. 20, 
1778, is the following record of the Eoyal family: — 

" Mr. Buller went to "Windsor on Saturday;, saw the 
King, who inquired much about the bishop ; and, hearing 
that he would be eighty-two next Monday, ' Then,' said 
the King, 6 1 will go and wish him joy.' ' And I,' said the 

Queen, ' will go, too.' Mr. B then dropt a hint of the 

additional pleasure it would give the bishop, if he could 
see the Princes. ' That,' said the King, c requires contri- 
vance ; but if I can manage it, we will all go.' 

" On the Monday following, the Eoyal party, consisting 
of their Majesties, the Prince of Wales, Duke of York, 
Duke of Clarence, the Princess Boyal, and Princess Augusta, 
visited the bishop. The King sent the Princes to pay their 
respects to Mrs.Chapone; himself, he said, was an old 
acquaintance. Whilst the Princes were speaking to me, 
Mr. Arnold, sub-preceptor, said, e These gentlemen are well 
acquainted with a certain ode prefixed to Mrs. Carter's 
"Epictetus," if you know anything of it.' Afterwards the 
King came and spoke to us, and the Queen led the Prin- 
cess Eoyal to me, saying, ' This is a young lady, who, I 
hope, has much profited by your instructions. She has 
read them* more than once, and will read them often ;' 
and the Princess assented to the praise which followed 
with a very modest air. I was pleased with all the Princes, 
but particularly Prince William, who is little of his age, 
but so sensible and engaging, that he won the bishop's 
heart, to whom he particularly attached himself, and would 
stay with him while all the rest ran about the house. His 
conversation was surprisingly manly and clever for his age ; 
* u Letters on the Improvement of the Mind." 



220 the royal princesses. 

yet with the young Bullers he was quite the boy, and said 
to John Bailer, by way of encouraging him to talk, 'Come, 
we are both boys, you knew.' All of them showed affec- 
tionate respect to the bishop ; the Prince of Wales pressed 
his hand so hard that he hurt it." 

The Princess Eoyal was early imbued with the love of 
history and taste for modern languages by which she be- 
came distinguished, and her retentive memory excited the 
admiration of all who conversed with her. She was her 
father's inseparable companion, who encouraged her in her 
natural taste for study, and whom she amused by reading 
to him in his leisure hours. 

She cultivated her taste for design under the celebrated 
Benjamin West, and applied her skill with great effect in 
embroidery and other female works of art, which she pre- 
sented to her friends on various occasions, and which, at a 
later period of her life, served to ornament the apartments 
of the Boyal Palace at Stuttgardt. 

In the " Closet of the Princess Eoyal" at Frogmore, 
an elegant little apartment, are several drawings in pen 
and ink, of wild animals, in imitation of the etchings of 
Eidinger, which were executed, with the spirit and freedom 
of an able professor, by the Princess Eoyal. These pen and 
ink drawings, and those which ornament the walls of an- 
other small apartment, all framed and glazed, are executed 
with the firmness and freedom of a practised hand, and 
would do credit to a professional artist. What her Eoyal 
Highness might have been able to perform in the way 
of original design, may only be inferred. 

There is something extremely pleasing in the following 
account of the Eoyal family, given by Mrs. Delane} r in her 
letters. It gives a record of the visit made by the King 
and Queen, with their children, to Bulstrode, the seat of 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 227 

the Duke of Portland, in 1779. At this time the Princess 
Boyal was about thirteen years of age, and the letter gives 
a fair picture of the manners of herself and family generally 
— one which cannot but prove interesting to every English 
reader. Mrs. Delaney writes thus : — ■ 

" The Boyal family, ten in all, came to Bulstrode at 
twelve o'clock. The King drove the Queen in an open 
chaise, with a pair of white horses. The Prince of Wales 
and Prince Frederick rode on horseback ; all with proper 
attendants, but no guards. Princess Koyal and Lady 
Weymouth in a post-chaise ; Princess Augusta, Princess 
Elizabeth, Prince Adolphus (about seven years old), and 
Lady Charlotte Finch, in a coach; Prince William, Prince 
Edward, Duke of Montague, and the Bishop of Lichfield, 
in a coach; another coach full of attendant gentlemen — 
among others, Mr. Smelt, whose character sets him above 
most men, and does great honour 'to the King, who calls 
him his friend, and has drawn him put of his solitude 
(the life he had chosen) to enjoy his conversation every 
leisure moment. These, with all their attendants in rank 
and file, made a splendid figure as they drove through the 
park, and round the court up to the house. The day 
was as brilliant as could be wished — the 12th of August, 
the Prince of Wales's birthday. The Queen was in a 
hat, and in an Italian night-gcwn of purple lustring, 
trimmed with silver gauze. She is graceful and 
genteel. The dignity and sweetness of her manner, the 
perfect propriety of everything she says or does, satisfies 
everybody she honours with her instructions so much, that 
beauty is by no means wanting to make her perfectly 
agreeable ; and though awe and long retirement from Court 
made me feel timid on my being called to make my appear- 
ance, I soon found myself perfectly at ease, for the King's 



228 TIIE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

conversation and good humour took off all awe but what 
one must have for so respectable a character, severely tried 
by his enemies at home as well as abroad. The three Prin- 
cesses were all in frocks. The King and all the men were 
in uniform blue and gold. They walked through the great 
apartments, which are in a line, and attentively observed 
everything, the pictures in particular. I kept back in the 
drawing-room, and took that opportunity of sitting down, 
when the Princess Royal returned to me, and said the 
Queen missed me in the train. I immediately obeyed the 
summons with my best alacrity. Her Majesty met me 
half-way, and seeing me hasten my steps, called out to me, 
1 Though I desired you to come, I did not desire you to 
run and fatigue yourself.' They all returned to the great 
drawing-room, where there were only two arm-chairs, placed 
in the middle of the room, for the King and Queen. The 
King placed the Duchess Dowager of Portland in his chair, 
and walked about admiring the beauties of the place. 
Breakfast was offered, all prepared in a long gallery that 
runs the length of the great apartments (a suite of eight 
rooms and three closets). The King, and all his Royal 
children, and the rest of the train, chose to go to the 
gallery, where the well-furnished tables were set — one with 
tea, coffee, and chocolate ; another with their proper accom- 
paniments of eatables — rolls, cakes, &c. ; another table 
with fruits and ices ill their utmost perfection, which with 
a magical touch had succeeded a cold repast. The Queen 
remained in the drawing-room. I stood at the back of 
her chair, which, happening to be one of my working, gave 
the Queen an opportunity to say many obliging things. 
The Duchess Dowager of Portland brought her Majesty 
a dish of tea on a waiter, with biscuits, which was what 
she chose. After she had drank her tea, she would not 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 229 

return her cup to the Duchess, but got up and would 
carry it to the gallery herself; and was much pleased to 
see with what elegance everything was prepared. No 
servants but those out of livery made their appearance. 
The gay and pleasant appearance they all made, and the 
satisfaction all expressed, rewarded the attention and 
politeness of the Duchess of Portland, who is never so 
happy as when she gratifies those she esteems worthy of 
her attentions and favours. The young Eoyals seemed 
quite happy, from the eldest to the youngest, and to 
inherit the gracious manners of their parents. I cannot 
enter upon their particular address to me, which not only 
did me honour, but showed their humane and benevolent 
respect for old age. The King desired me to show the 
Queen one of my books of plants. She seated herself in 
the gallery, a table and the book laid before her. I kept 
my distance till she called me to ask some questions 
about the mosaic paper-work ; and as I stood before her 
Majesty, the King set a chair behind me. I turned with 
some confusion and hesitation on receiving so great an 
honour, when the Queen said, c Mrs. Delaney, sit down, 
sit down; it is not every lady that has a chair brought 
her by a King.' So I obeyed. Amongst many gracious 
things, the Queen asked me w T hy I was not with the 
Duchess when she came, for I might be sure she would 
ask for me. I was flattered, though I knew to whom I 
was obliged for this distinction, and doubly flattered by 
that. I acknowledged it in as few words as possible, and 
said I was particularly happy at that moment to pay my 
duty to her Majesty, as it gave me an opportunity to see 
so many of the Royal family, which age and obscurity 
had deprived me of. ' Oh, but,' said her Majesty, ' you 
have not seen all my children yet.' Upon which the 



230 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

King came up and asked what we were talking about, 
which was repeated, and the King replied to the Queen, 
' You may put Mrs. Delaney in the way of doing that, by 
naming a day for her to drink tea at Windsor Castle.' 
The Duchess of Portland was consulted, and the next day 
fixed upon, as the Duchess had appointed the end of the 
week for going to Weymouth." 

Mrs. Delaney writes in another letter — " Last Saturday, 
the 11th of this month (Nov., 1780), about one o'clock, 
as I was sitting at work at my paper-mosaic, in my working 
dress, and all my papers littered about me, the Duchess 
Dowager of Portland very intent at another table, making 
a catalogue to a huge folio of portrait-prints, her Grace's 
groom of the chambers announced the Queen and Princess 
Royal, who were just driven into the court. I retired to 
change my dress, and wait for a summons, should her 
Majesty send me her commands. The Duchess kept her 
station, to receive her Eoyal visitors, and I was soon sent 
for, which gave me the opportunity I so much had wished, 
and my acknowledgments were most graciously accepted. # 
The Queen stayed till past three, and left us (though no 

* Here Mrs. Delaney alludes to a circumstance named in the same 
letter. "And now, as I know you take pleasure in what gives me 
pleasure, and does me honour, I must tell you of our amiable, gracious 
Queen's politeness, and, 1 may presume to add, kindness to me. She 
was told I had a wish for a lock of her hair ; she sent me one with 
her own Koyal fingers. She heard (for she was not asked for either) 
that I wished to have one of Mrs. Port's a boys in the Charterhouse, 
and she gave her commands that one of my little nephews should be 
set down in her list. You will easily believe I was anxious to make 
my proper acknowledgments, and under some difficulty how to do it, 
as I am unable to pay my duty in the drawing-room. Fortunately an 
agreeable opportunity came in my way " (the one described above). — 
Letter of Jlrs. Delaney to Mrs. Frances Hamilton. 
a Mrs. Delaney's niece. 



CHAPtLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 231 

strangers to her excellences), in admiration of her good 
sense, affability blended with dignity, and her entertaining- 
conversation. So much propriety, so excellent a heart, 
such true religious principles, give a lustre to her royalty 
that crowns and sceptres cannot bestow." 

Mrs, Delaney describes this visit in these words: — 
" We went at the hour appointed, seven o'clock, and were 
received in the lower private apartment at the Castle; 
went through a large room with great bay-windows, where 
were all the Princesses and youngest Princes, with their 
attendant ladies and gentlemen. We passed on to the 
bedchamber, where the Queen stood in the middle of the 
room, with Lady Weymouth and Lady Charlotte Finch. 
(The King and the eldest Princes had walked out.) When 
the Queen took her seat, and the ladies their places, she 
ordered a chair to be set for me opposite to where she 
sat, and asked me if I felt any wind from the door or 
window ? It was indeed a sultry day. 

" At eight o'clock, the King, &c, came into the room, 
with so much cheerfulness and good humour, that it was 
impossible to feel any painful restriction. It was the 
hour of the King and Queen, and eleven of the Princes and 
Princesses, walking on the Terrace. They apologized for 
going, but said the crowd expected them ; but they left 
Lady Weymouth* and the Bishop of Lichfield to enter- 
tain us in their absence. We sat in the ba3^-window, well 
pleased with our companions, and the brilliant show on 
the Terrace, on which we looked, the band of music playing 
all the time under the window. When they returned, we 
were summoned into the next room to tea, and the Eoyals 
began a ball, and danced two country-dances to the music 

* Lady Weymouth was daughter of the Duchess Dowager of 
Portland. 



232 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

of French-horns, bassoons, and hautboys, which were the 
same that played on the Terrace. The King came up to the 
Prince of Wales, and said he was sure, when he considered 
how great an effort it must be to play that kind of music 
so long a time together, that he would not continue their 
dancing there ; but that the Queen and the rest of the 
company were going to the Queen's house, and that they 
should renew their dancing there, and have proper music." 

Another letter from Bulstrode contains this passage: — 

" On Saturday, the 1st of this month, the Queen, Prin- 
cess Royal, and Princess Augusta, came here to wish the 
Duchess Dowager of Portland joy of the marriage of Miss 
Thynne (Lady Weymouth's eldest daughter) with the 
Earl of Aylesford. She is as amiable as beautiful ; and as 
he bears an exceedingly good character, I hope he will 
prove worthy of her. 

" The Queen, &c, came about twelve o'clock, and caught 
me at my spinning-wheel (the work lam now reduced to), 
and made me spin on, and give her a lesson afterwards ; 
and I must say, she did it tolerably well for a Queen. She 
stayed till three o'clock ; and now I suppose our Eoyal 
visits are over for this year." 

The following letter was enclosed in one from which 
the preceding extract has been taken (dated December 9th, 
1781) :— 

" On Tuesday morning, at a quarter before ten, the Duchess 
of Portland stept into her chaise, and I had the honour of 
attending her. We went to Garrat's- cross, about the 
middle of the Common, by the appointment and command 
of the King, who came, about a quarter of an hour after, 
with the Prince of Wales and a large retinue. His Majesty 
came up immediately to the Duchess of Portland's carriage, 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 233 

most gracious, and delighted to see the Duchess out so 
early. The Queen was there, with the two eldest Prin- 
cesses and Lady Courtown,* in a post-coach and four. 
The King came with a message from the Queen to the 
Duchess of Portland, to say her Majesty would see her 
safe back to Bulstrode, and breakfast with her Grace. The 
Duke of Cumberland was there, and a great many carriages, 
and many of our acquaintance : amongst them, Lady Mary 
Forbes and her family. She took three rooms at the Bull 
Inn, and breakfasted thirty people. The King himself 
ordered the spot where the Duchess of Portland's chaise 
should stand, to see the stag turned out. It was brought 
in a cart to that place by the King's command. The stag 
was set at liberty, and the poor trembling creature bounded 
over the plain, in hopes of escaping from his pursuers ; but 
the dogs and the hunters were soon after him, and all out 
of sight. 

"The Duchess of Portland returned home, in order to 
be ready to receive the Queen, who immediately followed, 
before we could pull off our bonnets and cloaks. We re- 
ceived her Majesty and the Princesses on the steps at the 
door. She is so condescending and gracious, that she 
makes everything perfectly easy. We got home a quarter 
before eleven o'clock — her Majesty stayed till two. In 
her return back to Windsor, she met the chase, and was 
at the taking of the stag : they would not let the dogs 
kill him. 

" On Wednesday the Duchess of Portland intended to 
go to return the Queen thanks for the honour she had 
done her ; we were to set out early. I dressed my head 

* Mary, daughter and co-heiress of Kichard Powis, of Hurdlesham 
Hall, in Suffolk, married James, the second Earl of Courtown, 



2oh THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

for the clay before breakfast, when a letter arrived from 
Miss Hamilton,* from the Queen's lodge, to me, with a 
message from the Kin^r. to desire we would not come till 
Thursday evening, at eight o'clock, as he could not be at 
home till then. Accordingly we went ; were there at the 
appointed hour. The King and Queen and the Princesses 
received us in the drawing-room, to which we went 
through the concert-room. Princess Mary took me by 
the left hand, Princess Sophia and the sweet little Prince 
Octavius took me by the right hand, and led me after 
the Duchess of Portland into the drawing-room. The 
King nodded and smiled upon my little conductors, and 
bid them lead me up to the Queen, who stood in the 
middle of the room. When we were all seated (for the 
Queen is so gracious she will always make me sit down), 
the Duchess of Portland sat next to the Queen, and I sat 
next to the Princess Royal. On the other side of me was a 
chair, and his Majesty did me the honour to sit by me. 
He went backwards and forwards between that and the 
music -room; he was so gracious as to have a good deal of 
conversation with me, particularly about Handel's music, 
and ordered those pieces to be played which he found I 
gave a preference to. In the course of the evening the 
Queen changed places with the Princess Eoyal, saying, most 
graciously, she must have a little conversation with Mrs. 
Delaney, which lasted about half an hour. She then got 
up, it being half an hour after ten, and said she was afraid 
she should keep the Duchess of Portland too late, and 
made her courtesy, and we withdrew. There was nobody 
but their attendants, and Lord and Lady Court own. 
Nothing could be more easy and agreeable." 

* Afterwards Mrs. Dickinson. 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 235 

Another letter, to Mrs. Frances Hamilton, dated from 
Bulstrode, December 17, 1782, runs thus : — 

" The Queen made a morning visit here about three 
weeks ago, and brought only Lady Dartrey^ with her. 
The Duchess paid her duty in return, at the Queen's lodge, 
and I had the honour of accompanying her. The Queen 
was quite alone, in her dressing-room : her dress was 
simple and elegant, a pale lilac satin. She added dig- 
nity to her dress by her most gracious manner of con- 
versing. She was making fringe in a frame, and did me 
the honour to show me how to do it, and to say she 
would send me such a frame as her own, as she thought it 
was a work that would not try my eyes. We were dis- 
missed at three o'clock ; and as we were going to the 
chaise, we met, in the passage, the King and his grey- 
hounds just returned from coursing. He told the Duchess 
that he could not part with her so ; but we must both 
make him a visit, and opened the door for us to go with 
him into the drawing-room. The Queen soon came to us, 
and invited us back to her apartment, as the warmer 
place, and we stayed till four o'clock." 

The Prince of Wales's birthday in 1781, when he came 
of age, was celebrated at Windsor with much rejoicing, 
and the Terrace was so crowded with company that their 
Majesties and the Princesses were obliged to retire after 
walking about half an hour. A grand review was held in 
the Park next day, at the conclusion of which the Royal 
family proceeded to St. George's Hall, where they dined 
with about eighty of the nobility. In the evening there 

* The Lady Anne Fermor, daughter of Thomas, first Earl of 
Pomfret, married Thomas, Lord Dartrey, created Lord Viscount 
Cremorne, in July, 1785. 



233 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

was a grand supper, and the ball was kept up till a late 
hour. Illuminations and bonfires were part of the day's 
entertainments. 

The first appearance in public of Charlotte Augusta 
Matilda was on the Queen's birthday the year following, 
1782, at the drawing-room, she being then sixteen years 
of age. On that occasion the Princess Eoyal opened the 
ball in the evening with her brother, the Prince of 
Wales, who wore a waistcoat of the Queen's own em- 
broidering. 

Two years before, Charlotte Augusta Matilda had 
become sponsor for her infant brother, Prince Alfred, who 
was born September 22, 1780 ; it was the misfortune of 
their Majesties to lose this sweet child August 20th, 
1782, and their grief was no doubt shared by the young 
Princess, his godmother. This was not a solitary be- 
reavement : Louisa Anne, the King's sister, died about the 
same time, of a lingering consumption ; and another of 
Charlotte's sons, Prince Octavius, fell a victim to the 
small-pox at Kew, in the fifth year of his age, # and was 
interred with his little brother in the chapel of Henry the 
Seventh, at Westminster. 

A more joyful event could scarcely have occurred after 
so many domestic losses, than the birth of the Princess 
Amelia, the youngest of the six daughters of Queen Char- 
lotte, whose sponsors at the baptismal font were the 
Princess Eoyal, the Prince of Wales, and the Princess 
Augusta : the child was named after her great-aunt, Amelia 
of Hanover, daughter of George II. 

From Mrs. Delaney's letter to Mrs. F. Hamilton, dated 
Bulstrode, October the 10th, 1783, the following extract 
is too pleasing to be suppressed : — 
* In May, 1783. 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 237 

" In a few days after our arrival here, the Duchess of 
Portland and I were sitting in the long gallery, very busy 
with our different employments, when without any cere- 
mony, his Majesty walked up to our table unperceived 
and unknown, till he came quite up to us. You may believe 
we were at first a little fluttered with his Eoyal presence ; 
but his courteous and affable manner soon made him a wel- 
come guest. He came to inform the Duchess of Portland 
of the Queen's perfect recovery after her lying-in, which 
made him doubly welcome. 

" Breakfast was called for, and after a visit of two hours, 
the King left us. About a week after this, the King and 
Queen came together, only accompanied by Lady Courtown. 
They breakfasted and stayed much about the same time. 
The etiquette is, that the person on whom such an honour 
is conferred goes to inquire after their Majesties ; but the 
Queen waived that ceremony, and desired the Duchess not 
to come till she received a summons, as they were going 
to St. James's for some days. On Thursday, the 2nd of 
October, a little before 12 o'clock, word was brought that 
the Eoyal family were coming up the park ; and immediately 
after, two coaches and six, with the King on horseback, and 
a great retinue, came up to the hall-door. The company 
were, the King and Queen, Princess Eoyal, Princess Augusta, 
Princess Elizabeth, Princess Mary, and Princess Sophia — 
a lovely group, all dressed in white muslin polonaises, white 
chip hats with white feathers, except the Queen, who had on 
a black hat, and cloak; the King dressed in his Windsor uni- 
form of blue and gold ; the Queen attended by the Duchess of 
Ancaster, who is mistress of the robes, and Lady Elizabeth 
Waldegrave, # who attends the two eldest Princesses, and Mrs. 

* Elizabeth Laura, daughter of James, second Earl Waldegrave, 
by Maria (daughter of Sir Edward Walpole), afterwards Duchess of 



23S THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

Goldsworthy, who is sub-governess to the three younger 
Princesses. The King had no attendants but the equerries, 
Major Digby and Major Price. They were in the drawing- 
room before I was sent for, where I found the King and 
Queen and Duchess of Portland, seated at a table in the 
middle of the room. The King, with his usual graciousness, 
came up to me, and brought me forward, and I found the 
Queen very busy in showing a very elegant machine to the 
Duchess of Portland, which was a frame for weaving of 
fringe of a new and most delicate structure, and would take up 
as much paper as has already been written upon to describe 
it minutely ; yet it is of such simplicity as to be very 
useful. You will easily imagine the grateful feeling I had 
when the Queen presented it to me, to make up some 
knotted fringe which she saw me about. The King, 
at the same time, said he must contribute something to my 
work, and presented me with a gold knotting shuttle of 
most exquisite workmanship and taste ; and I am at this 
time, while I am dictating this letter, knotting white silk 
to fringe the bag which, is to contain it. 

" On the Monday after, we were appointed to go to the 
lodge at Windsor, at two o'clock. We were first taken 
into the Duchess of Ancaster's dressing-room ; in a quarter 
of an hour after, to the King and Queen, in the drawing- 
room, who had nobody with them but Prince Alverstaden, 
the Hanoverian minister, which gave me an opportunity of 
hearing the Queen speak German, and I may say it was the 
first time I had received pleasure from what I did not un- 
derstand : but there was such a fluency and sweetness in 
her manner of speaking it, that it sounded as sweet as 
Italian. 

Gloucester, married her first cousin, George, fourth Earl of Walde- 
grave. 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 239 

" There were two chairs brought in for the Duchess of 
Portland and myself to sit on (by order of their Majesties), 
which were easier than those belonging to the room. We 
were seated near the door that opened into the concert- 
room. The King directed them to play Handel and 
Gemimani's music, which he was graciously pleased to say 
was to gratify me. These are flattering honours. I should 
not indulge so much upon this subject, but that I depend 
upon your considering it proceeding more from gratitude 
than vanity. The three eldest Princesses came into the 
room in about half an hour after we were seated. All the 
Koyal family were dressed in uniform for the demi-saison, 
of a violet-blue armozine, gauze aprons, &c. &c. ; the 
Queen had the addition of a great many fine pearls. 

"When the concert of music was over, the young 
Princess Amelia, nine weeks old, was sent for, and brought 
in by her nurse and attendants. The King took her in his 
arms, and presented her to the Duchess of Portland and 
to me. Your affectionate heart would have been delighted 
with the Boyal domestic scene — an example worthy of imi- 
tation by all ranks, and, indeed, adding dignity to their high 
station. We were at Bulstrode before five, and very well 
after our expedition. I am afraid you will be much more 
tired than we were, in travelling through this long narration. 
If it affords any amusement to our dear friend, Mrs. Anne 
Hamilton, as well as to yourself, it will give much satis- 
faction to my dear Mrs. F. Hamilton's most affectionate 
and obliged friend, 

"M. Delakey." 

The Boyal family has always manifested a remarkable 
taste for theatricals. Mrs. Siddons, by her unrivalled 
talents, drew the King and Queen, with the children, often to 
r2 



210 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

the theatre. On one occasion, when she was performing in 
the character of Euphrasia, a voice from the upper gallery 
disturbed the house by crying out — " Your Majesty had 
the goodness to promise me one of your blessed Princesses 
in marriage." Such an uproar was created by this breach 
of decorum, that the individual who had been guilty of it 
made his escape. Shortly after, Mrs. Siddons had an inter- 
view with their Majesties at Buckingham House, and at 
their express desire undertook to instruct the two younger 
Princesses in reading and enunciation. 

1784. — At the grand festival held in honour of Handel, 
at Westminster Abbey, their Majesties were present, 
May 26. Prince Edward and the Princess Royal sat on 
the King's right, and the Princesses Augusta, Elizabeth, 
and Sophia, on the Queen's left hand; the box being 
superbly ornamented with crimson velvet. 

At the Pantheon, where the festival was renewed the 
following evening, their Majesties and three of the Prin- 
cesses again visited the performance. On the 29th, when 
the " Messiah" was performed in the Abbey, five of the 
Eoyal sisters accompanied their august parents, and evi- 
dently enjoyed the grand musical treat. 

August 29th, 1785. — The King and Queen, with their 
five daughters, visited the race-course at Egham " without 
guards or ceremony," and were received by the Duke of 
Queensberry, who gave them an account of the horses that 
were to run. The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress had 
some conversation with their Majesties, after which the 
King appeared on the ground on horseback, and conversed 
with the clerk of the course at different intervals with 
much condescension. During this time the Queen, the 
Princess Royal, and Princess Elizabeth were in an open 
landau, and the three younger Princesses in a coach. 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 241 

Their Majesties partook, while on the field, of a plain 
repast of cold beef, ham, and veal ; and on their departure 
expressed themselves much pleased with the day's sport. 

Again, in another letter, dated from Bulstrode, June 22, 
1784, Mrs. Delaney addresses Mrs. Frances Hamilton in 
these words : — " Now, according to my usual custom, I 
must give you an account of my past life and actions 
regarding Royal favours. As soon as the bitterness of 
winter was over, I received the King and Queen's com- 
mands to attend the Duchess of Portland to the Queen's 
house, at eight o'clock in the evening : there was no com- 
pany there but the five Princesses and Lady Charlotte 
Finch. There was a concert of music in the next room, 
which (the door being open) we heard in a very agreeable 
manner. The King walked backwards and forwards be- 
tween the rooms, had a great deal of conversation with 
the Duchess of Portland, and did me the honour of sharing 
in it sometimes. 

" We had much talk, particularly about music ; and his 
Majesty condescended to order those pieces of music to be 
played that he called my favourites. The Duchess of 
Portland sat on the Queen's right hand, and I on her 
left. Her Majesty talked a great deal to me about books, 
especially about those on religion, and recommended to 
me an ' Explanation of the Four Evangelists,' translated 
from the German. The next morning she sent me a 
present of the work, in three volumes. 

" The old 14th of May, which my dear and valuable 
friends in Ireland so often made a day of delight to me, 
is not quite laid aside : my young niece, Port, takes upon 
her every year, on its return, to invite a select set of com- 
pany, not exceeding six persons, to dine with me. On 
the last, a summons was sent to me from their Majesties, 



212 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

that, as they were informed it was my birthday, they 
must see me ; and I, with the Duchess of Portland, obeyed 
their commands that evening. Nobodv there but the 
Royal family, Lady Charlotte Finch, and Lady Wey- 
mouth, who was the Lady of the Bedchamber in Waiting. 
It does not become me to say the gracious, kind, and 
flattering manner with which they received me. The 
Queen ordered Lady Weymouth to tie about my neck a 
small medallion of the King, set round with brilliants. 
The resemblance, which is very great, and the gracious 
manner in which it was done, made it invaluable. 

" I cannot enter into a long detail of the commemora- 
tion of Handel, performed in West minster Abbey. The 
effect was wonderful ; and I had the courage (having a 
very easy opportunity of going into the Abbey) of hearing 
it four times. Yesterday morning, their Majesties, only 
accompanied by Lady Louisa Clayton, breakfasted here. 
Thus ends the history and letter of my dear Mrs. F. 
Hamilton's most affectionate, faithful friend and servant, 

"M. Delaney." 

On Monday, October loth, 1785, their Majesties, 
with the Princes Ernest Augustus and Adolphus, the 
Princess Royal, Princesses Augusta and Elizabeth, paid a 
visit to Lord and Lady Harcourt, at jSTuneham, with the 
intention of returning to Windsor the same evening ; but 
the conversation happening to turn upon Oxford, and the 
Queen saying she should like to see a place of which she 
had heard so much, it was resolved to go thither, in a pri- 
vate manner, the next day. Accordingly, the Royal party 
slept at Nuneham that night ; and on Tuesday morning, 
about ten o'clock, their Majesties, with their children, and 
the Earl and Countess of Harcourt, arrived at Oxford in 



CHAULOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 243 

five carriages, and passing through the fields behind 
Merton College, alighted at Christ Church, and entering 
the cathedral at prayer time, took their seats during 
Divine service ; after which, they were conducted to the 
hall, the dean's apartments, and the library. From Christ 
Church they proceeded to Corpus • Christi College, where 
Dr. Dennis, the Vice- Chancellor, and President of St. 
John's, preceded by the beadles, with their staves in- 
verted, paid his respects to their Majesties, and attended 
them to Merton College, and thence to the Radelivian 
Library. Their Majesties from thence entered the public 
schools, at the eastern gates, and passing through the 
divinity school, were ushered into the theatre, where the 
heads of houses, and the doctors in their several faculties, 
were already assembled. In the area of this magnificent 
room the Royal family were seated for some time ; and 
the Yice-Chancellor, with the several heads of colleges, 
and the proctors, had the honour of kissing their Majes- 
ties' hands. The Bodleian Library was next visited, and 
from thence the Royal party were conducted to the pic- 
ture-gallery ; after which they saw the Pomfret and Arun- 
delian marbles, and the music-school, where the professor 
had the honour of kissing hands. On leaving these public 
edifices, their Majesties went to see the chapel and library 
at New College ; from whence they passed through the 
gardens into the library, chapel, and hall of St. John's, and 
next to the Observatory. From this place the Royal family 
proceeded to the council-chamber, where the Mayor and 
Corporation of Oxford attended to pay their respects to 
the Royal visitors ; and the former had the honour of 
knighthood conferred upon him. Their Majesties from 
thence visited All Souls, Queen's, and Magdalen Colleges ; 
and having seen the chapels, libraries, and whatever was 



2-14 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

most worthy of observation, they quitted Oxford for Lord 
Harcourt's, where an elegant cold collation waited their 
arrival ; and they set out for Windsor about seven the 
same evening. 

The death of Prince George of Mecklenburg caused the 
celebration of the Queen's birthday to be postponed to the 
9th of February, he being her youngest brother. When 
the birthday was kept on that day, dancing was kept up 
in the evening till between twelve and one o'clock, at 
which hour their Majesties and the Princesses retired. 

Private theatricals becoming fashionable in 1786, they 
were patronized, among others, by the Duke of Richmond, 
at whose house, which was always crowded, the theatre 
was more than once honoured with the Royal presence. 
Their Majesties, with five Princesses, went the first time 
to see Murphy's comedy of " The Way to Keep Him ;" 
and the last, Mrs. Centlivre's play of " The Wonder ; or, 
a Woman keeps a Secret." 

An interesting event at this time occurred in the 
fashionable world — the baptism of the infant daughter of 
the Earl of Salisbury, April 27th, 1787. She was born 
after a period of sixteen years had elapsed without the 
Countess adding to her family. The baptismal ceremony 
took place at his lordship's residence in Arlington-street, 
and was performed in the evening with much splendour, 
their Majesties and the Princess Royal having undertaken 
to become sponsors for the babe, and attending in person 
on the interesting occasion, when every preparation had 
been made to do honour to the Royal guests. 

The King and Queen, with the Princess Royal, " having 
arrived in their chairs, were ushered into the baptismal 
chamber, where, according to etiquette, the Countess sat 
up in bed to receive them ; this bed was of green damask, 



CHARLOTTE AT7GTT9TA MATILDA. 245 

with flowers in festoons, and lined with orange-coloured 
silk, the counterpane of white? satin. 

" Her Majesty was dressed in dark green, covered with 
silver gauze, and ornamented with the greatest profusion 
of diamonds perhaps ever seen at one time, with which, 
indeed, her head was literally covered ; and his Majesty 
was also superbly dressed. All the rank and fashion in 
London connected with the noble families of Hill and Cecil 
were assembled to witness the interesting spectacle. His 
Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury performed the bap- 
tismal ceremony. Her Majesty received the child from 
Lady Essex, and the Archbishop received it from her 
Majesty, who named it Georgiana Charlotte Augusta. 
Their Majesties stayed till a late hour, during which time, 
as was the custom, none of the company sat down. The 
Royal party returned with the usual formalities." 

Not long after occurred the memorable attempt on the 
King's life by Margaret Nicholson, which must have been 
a trial to the hearts of the Royal mother and daughters — 
happily his Majesty escaped injury. 

On the 15th of August, a second visit was paid by their 
Majesties and the three eldest Princesses to the noble 
owners of Nuneham, where they reviewed the improve- 
ments taking place there ; and on the next morning, Sun- 
day, after having attended Divine service at Nuneham, the 
King, Queen, and Princesses set out for Oxford. They 
arrived there at half-past one o'clock, and were received 
by the Yice-Chancellor, the Duke of Marlborough, and the 
officers of the University, who ushered them into the 
Divinity School, from whence in grand procession they 
entered the theatre, where the King took the Chancellor's 
chair, the Queen and the Princesses being seated at his 
right hand. After a voluntary had been played on the 



21G THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

organ, the Vice-Chancellor approached the throne, with an 
address on his Majesty's happy deliverance; to which the 
King made this reply: — 

" Such dutiful sentiments on my second visit to this 
seat of learning, accompanied by affectionate congratula- 
tions on the protection of Divine Providence, manifested 
by the failure of the attempt on my life, call forth my 
warmest thanks. I am not less sensible of your expres- 
sions towards the Queen. The University of Oxford may 
ever depend on my inclination to encourage every branch 
of science ; as the more my subjects are enlightened, the 
more they must be attached to the excellent constitution 
established in this realm." 

This reply, all unpremeditated as it was, and uttered in 
a feeling and impressive manner, sensibly affected all who 
were present. 

On leaving the theatre, the Royal party went to take 
a second view of the New College and its beautiful win- 
dows ; after which they visited Wadham and Trinity Col- 
leges, at which last they partook of an elegant collation 
in the hall. From thence they went to Lincoln and 
Brazenose Colleges, and next to the council chamber of 
the city, to receive the Corporation with their address. 
After inspecting the library and pictures at Christ Church, 
the Royal party returned to Nuneham to dinner, about 
six o'clock. The next morning their Majesties honoured 
the Duke of Marlborough with a visit at Blenheim, and, 
on their entrance into the park from Woodstock, were 
saluted with the firing of eleven cannon, on the side of the 
great lake. The Duke and Duchess, with their family, 
awaited the arrival of the Royal visitors on the steps of 
the grand entrance, and conducted them through the 
great hall, saloon, and suite of rooms on the west side, to 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 247 

a splendid collation prepared for them in the library. 
Their Majesties proceeded from tlience to view the prin- 
cipal apartments of that noble monument of national 
gratitude : after which they drove round the park, and, 
having surveyed it at the most striking points of view, 
they alighted near the cascade, where they spent some 
time in admiring the improvements recently made by the 
Duke, who received many compliments from his august 
visitors on the excellence of his taste. The party then 
returned to the house, where they spent some time in 
examining the observatory, with its ample apparatus, and 
then took leave of Blenheim for Xuneham. 

On the 27th of June this year, their Majesties, accom- 
panied by the three elder Princesses, and the Dukes of 
Montague and Ancaster, paid a visit to Mr. Whitbread's 
brewery in Chiswell-street. The Royal partjr arrived at a 
quarter before ten, which had been the hour appointed, 
and were received by Mr. and Miss Whitbread, who in- 
vited them to partake of a breakfast which had been pro- 
vided. This was politely declined, and their Majesties 
spent two hours in viewing the works. The King rapidly 
hut judiciously explained the great steam-engine to her 
Majesty and the Princesses in all its parts. The great 
stone cistern, capable of containing four thousand barrels 
of beer, was next examined, with which the Queen and 
her daughters were so much amused, that they went into 
it, though the aperture was so small as scarcely to admit 
their entrance. After this the Royal party partook of a 
cold collation, accompanied with old porter poured from a 
bottle of extraordinary size. The King, advancing by 
chance to a window overlooking the street, was received 
by loud shouts of affection from the crowds assembled 
without ; and the Queen, taking her daughters by the 



248 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

hand, led them herself to the window, where they were 
hailed by repeated cheers from the people. At two 
o'clock they departed, much pleased with their hospitable 
reception and the sight they had enjoyed. 

The King being advised to try the waters of Chelten- 
ham, Bayshill Lodge* was taken for the reception of the 
Royal family ; and on July 12th their Majesties, with the 
Princess Royal, Princesses Augusta and Elizabeth, set out 
from Windsor at a quarter before seven in the morning, and 
proceeded to Lord Harcourt's, in Oxfordshire, where they 
spent about two hours, and afterwards proceeded to 
Cheltenham, which they reached a little before five in the 
afternoon. The next day, Sunday, a sermon was preached 
by Dr. Samuel Halifax, Bishop of Gloucester, in presence 
of the Royal family, at the parish church. The King 
walked and drank the water at six every morning during 
his stay ; after breakfast he rode with the Queen and 
Princesses on excursions round the country, appearing 
again on the walks between six and seven in the evening. 

On the 16th, the Royal party visited Tewkesbury, and 
viewed the inside of that memorable church ; on the 19th 
they went to Cirencester, and from thence to Oakley 
Grove, the seat of Lord Bathurst. The next place they 
honoured by a visit was Gloucester, where their Majesties 
and the three Princesses were received at the episcopal 
palace by the Bishop, who, attended by the Dean and 
Chapter, addressed the King on the occasion, as also did the 
Mayor and Corporation, all of whom kissed the King's 
hand, and were introduced by him to the Queen. Their 
Majesties afterwards visited the cathedral and the 
deanery, where the King entered into a good deal of con- 
versation with the Venerable Dr. Josiah Tucker, the 
* Built for the Earl of Falconberg. 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 249 

Dean, who made many apologies for the unprepared con- 
dition of his house, and particularly the library, which 
was indeed in a ludicrous state of confusion. From 
thence the Koyal party returned to the palace ; and after 
waiting a short time for the carriages, returned in the 
afternoon to Cheltenham. 

" On the following Tuesday, their Majesties and the 
Princesses dined with the Earl of Coventry, who dis- 
played all the hospitality of the ancient nobility in the 
reception of his illustrious guests ; for, besides the splendid 
entertainment within the house, he caused the cellar-doors 
to be thrown open to regale the immense multitudes that 
were assembled on the outside. 

" At an early hour on the 2nd of August, the King and 
Queen rode to Hartlebury Castle, the episcopal residence of 
Bishop Hurd, with whom they breakfasted ; after which 
they walked through the grounds, and remained for some 
time upon the terrace, to gratify the numerous spectators 
who flocked thither from all parts of the country. On 
the 5th, their Majesties again visited the Bishop at his 
palace in the city, for the purpose of attending the 
musical meeting of the three choirs of Worcester, Glou- 
cester, and Hereford. The next morning the King received 
the clergy in the great hall, when the Bishop, after ad- 
dressing his Majesty, made a complimentary speech to the 
Queen, who replied in a very gracious manner ; after which 
the reverend body had the honour to kiss her hand, as 
they also did that of his Majesty. At eleven the cathe- 
dral service began, in which was introduced the overture 
in ' Esther,' Handel's Dettingen Te Deum, and the Corona- 
tion Anthem. Their Majesties sat upon an occasional 
throne, the nobility, clergy, and magistrates being disposed 
on each side. Thursday morning the Eoyal family were 



250 TI1E EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

again present at the cathedral, when a selection from the 
music of Handel was most ably performed. On Friday 
morning the Corporation, conducted by Lord Coventry, as 
the Recorder, waited on the King to request that he would 
honour them with a visit at the Town Hall, to which his 
Majesty graciously assented, and a grand procession ac- 
cordingly took place ; the various trades with their 
streamers leading the wa} r , the maces borne by the alder- 
men, and the Mayor carrying the sword of State. After 
viewing the pictures, the regalia, and everything curious, 
his Majesty was shown into the grand parlour, where an 
elegant cold collation was provided. As it was well 
known that the King never took any liquor before dinner, 
the Mayor asked him if he would be pleased to take a 
jelly, when his Majesty replied, 'I do not recollect ever 
drinking a glass of wine before dinner in my life, yet, 
upon this pleasing occasion, I will venture.' A glass of 
rich old mountain being then served by the Mayor, his 
Majesty immediately drank ' Prosperity to the Corpora- 
tion and citizens of Worcester.' This was no sooner 
made known to the populace, than a universal shout of 
acclamation arose, which continued for several minutes. 
The King, then addressing himself to the Corporation, 
asked whether there was anything that he could oblige 
them with P Upon which the Earl of Coventry, in his 
capacity of Recorder, replied on the behalf of his fellow- 
citizens, c that they tendered their sincere and grateful 
thanks for the honour his Majesty had done the city of 
Worcester ; and that if he would be graciously pleased to 
sit for his picture to be placed in their Hall, he would 
gratify their highest wishes.' To this the King answered, 
' Certainly, gentlemen ; I cannot hesitate to grant you 
that favour, or any other which you can reasonably 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 251 

expect.' The picture was accordingly sent ; and two 
others, one of the King, and the other of the Queen, as 
presents to the Bishop ; by whom they were placed in the 
great drawing-room of the episcopal palace, with a com- 
memorative inscription, written by his lordship. 

" The visit to the Corporation being ended, the Royal 
family again repaired to the cathedral, where the Messiah 
was performed, which concluded the musical festival ;. 
and in the evening there was a grand miscellaneous 
concert, which the Royal visitors honoured with their 
presence. 

" The next morning their Majesties and the Princesses 
left Worcester, and at going away, the Queen put fifty 
pounds into the hands of the Bishop." 

Mrs. Delaney says, # " Since I last wrote to you, I have- 
had an intercourse with his Majesty again by way of letter, 
on his returning the books of Mr. Handel's music, which 
my nephew J. Dewes had lent him. 

" The King's letter was very gracious and condescending: 
he was much pleased with some music that was new to him 
among the books, and sent his acknowledgments to my 
nephew, in the most obliging manner ; adding that he would 
not ask me to come and hear it performed at the Queen's 
house, till the spring was so far advanced that it might be 
safe for me to venture. On Thursday, the 9th of May, I re- 
ceived a note from Lady Weymouth, to tell me the Queen 
invited me to her Majesty's house ; to come at seven o'clock 
with the Duchess Dowager of Portland, to hear Mrs. Sid- 
dons read c The Provoked Husband.' You may believe I 
obe}^ed the Royal summons, and was much entertained. It 
was very desirable to me, as I had no other opportunity of 
hearing or seeing Mrs. Siddons ; and she fully answered 

* In another letter to Mrs. F. Hamilton, dated May 19, 1785. 



252 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

my expectations ; her person and manner were perfectly 
agreeable. 

" We were received in the great drawing-room by the 
King and Queen, their five daughters, and Prince Edward. 
Besides the Ro} r al family, there were only the Duchess 
Dowager of Portland, her daughter Lady Weymouth, and 
her beautiful granddaughter Lady Aylesford ; Lord and 
Lady Harcourt, Lady Charlotte Finch, Duke of Montague, 
and the gentlemen attendant on the King. There were 
two rows of chairs for the company, the length of the 
room. 

"Their Majesties sat in the middle of the first row, with 
the Princesses on each hand, which filled it. The rest of 
the ladies were seated in the row behind them, and as 
there was a space between that and the wall, the lords and 
gentlemen that were admitted stood there. Mrs. Siddons 
read standing, and had a desk with candles before her; 
she behaved with great propriety, and read two acts of 
' The Provoked Husband,' which was abridged by leaving 
out Sir Francis and Lady Wronghead's parts, &c. ; but 
she introduced John Moody's account of the journey, and 
read it admirably. The part of Lord and Lady Townley's 
reconciliation she worked up finely, and made it very af- 
fecting. She also read Queen Katherine's last speech in 
'King Henry VIII.' She was allowed three pauses, to 
go into the next room and refresh herself, for half an hour 
each time. After she was dismissed, their Majesties de- 
tained the company some time to talk over what had 
passed, which was not the least agreeable part of the 
entertainment. 

" I was so flattered by their most kind reception of me, 
that I really did not feel the fatigue, notwithstanding, I 
believe, it was past twelve before we made our last courtesy ; 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 253 

and I cannot say, though that was a very late hour for 
me, that I suffered from it, and I had tried my strength 
the week before by having been at two concerts. 

" The particular account you have sent me of your 
agreeable relations (such societies are rare) was very de- 
lightful ; and you flatter me very much when you say, it 
puts you in mind of ancient days at Deville, the recollection 
of which will ever be pleasant, though painful, to me. I 
am sorry I cannot send you a copy of the letters you hint 
at, but I have refused it to near relations ; and though 
they would do me great honour, I think it is not proper. 
I could depend on your discretion, but not on every one's 
in whose hands they might fall. The Duchess Dowager of 
Portland has had a bad cough, but is now better ; always 
inquires after you in the kindest manner, and charges me 
with her compliments. Had I another page, I could fill 
it with her goodness to me." 

On September 8th, 1787, an individual was brought 
before several of the faculty and some justices of the 
peace, to undergo an examination of some length ; when 
it became evident from what transpired, and many 
marks of his past conduct, that he was afflicted with 
insanity, and was accordingly ordered to be confined till 
further orders in Bedlam hospital. The man, whose 
name was Thomas Stone, had a few days before written a 
very extraordinary letter to her Majesty, declaring a very 
warm passion he had conceived for her eldest daughter, 
and hoping, " if their Majesties approved of the idea ol 
his marrying her, he and the Princess Royal would be a 
very happy couple !" After this, Stone appeared at St. 
James's, and begged leave to be introduced in form, as, 
from not having had an answer, he conceived his proposal 
wa& acceded to. Silence gave consent ! This, however, as 

s 



254 THE HOYAL PRINCESSES. 

may be supposed, was not much attended to by the people 
to whom he spoke. On his going afterwards to Kew, he 
was seized and confined till he could be taken to the 
public office in Bow-street to be examined, where he con- 
fessed that he had conceived an attachment for her Roj^al 
Highness ; which attachment he declared was reciprocal. 
A great many papers on the subject of love were found 
upon him, addressed to her Highness the Princess Royal. 
He said his heart was stolen from him three years ago, 
and till last March he did not know who was the robber, 
till, being at the play, he saw the Princess Royal look up 
at the two-shilling gallery. The following are the lines 
which, at the time of the examination, were submitted to 
the critical examination of Dr. Munro, and which Stone 
acknowledged to be his production : — 

TO HER HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS ROYAL. 

Thrice glad were T. to be your willing slave, 
But not the captive of the tool or knave ; 
AVith woe on woe you melt my sighing breast, 
Whilst you reject your humble would-be guest. 
August 22. T. S. 

Stone, the author of this rodomontade effusion, was a ' 
heavy-looking man, in his thirty-third year, a native of 
Shaftesbury, where his father was a floor-cloth painter. 
He had himself been brought up as an attorney, and had 
an uncle named Sutton living at Islington. He wrote a 
letter to Mr. Delaval, of Pali-Mall, saying he proposed 
a plan for paying off the National Debt. Not only his 
actions but conversation were evidence of his lunacy. 

The Duke of Gloucester having derived much benefit 
from his residence at Weymouth, succeeded in providing 
a residence there for the Royal family ; and in 1789 the 
King and Queen, with the three eldest Princesses, paid 



CHABLOTTE ATTGT7STA MATILDA. 255 

their first visit there. They started from Windsor on Mid- 
summer-day at seven in the morning, the Eoyal cavalcade 
consisting only of three carriages in all. In the first 
were the King and Queen, with the Princess Eoyal and 
Princess Augusta Sophia. The second contained Princess 
Elizabeth, Lady Waldegrave, and two other ladies ; the 
third, some of their attendants. 

The Eoyal route was through the forest to Bagshot, and 
thence by Winchester and Southampton to Lyndhurst 
Lodge. At their entrance into the New Porest, their 
Majesties received the customary honours. Sir Charles 
Mills, who holds the manor of Langley upon condition of 
presenting his Majesty, whenever he passes that way, 
with a brace of white greyhounds in silver collars, led in 
a silken cord, and coupled in a gold chain, attended in 
due form. 

After spending a few days at this rural retreat, they 
pursued their journey westward, and arrived at Weymouth 
on the last day of June, amidst the acclamations of an 
innumerable multitude, who thronged the roads, anxious 
to behold their Sovereign and his family. 

The Eoyal arrival was announced by the guns of the 
battery facing Gloucester Lodge, by those from Portland 
Castle, and by all the ships in Portland and Weymouth 
harbours, with their colours displayed. In the evening 
there was a splendid illumination, with divers decorations 
and loyal devices. 
m During their stay at Weymouth the three Princesses 
bathed frequently, and received much pleasure from these 
ablutions. 

Lulworth Castle, Sherborne Castle, Milton Abbey, and 
Came near Dorchester, were honoured with the earliest 
visits by the Eoyal guests. 

S 2 



256 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Excursions by water on board the Magnificent, a 74-gun 
ship, and the Soitthampton frigate, which constantly rode 
at anchor for the purpose facing the lodge, were very 
frequent ; for which purpose these vessels daily held them- 
selves in readiness, and, upon a signal, barges were de- 
spatched to the pier-head to take the Royal family and 
their suite alongside the men-of-war, on board of which 
they entered without salute, under three cheers, the ships 
being manned. 

The trips were generally made into the Channel, whence 
their return was about four in the afternoon for dinner, 
after an absence of about six hours. 

On the 3rd of August, the Royal family made an excur- 
sion to Lulworth Castle, on board the Southampton frigate, 
attended by the Lords Chesterfield, Howe, and Courtown ; 
the Ladies Pembroke, Howe, and the rest of the suite. A 
Royal salute from the guns of the castle welcomed the 
arrival ; and upon the Royal party's entering the vestibule, 
the grand chorus of " God save the King," by a select 
band, ushered them into the house. 

Mr. Weld, the hospitable owner of this enchanting spot, 
together with his family, paid every possible attention, and 
appeared highly sensible of the honour they had received ; 
this attention was most condescendingly repaid by their 
Majesties, who surveyed every part of the pleasure-grounds, 
the house, gardens, and the chapel, where an anthem was 
performed. 

The Royal party returned to Weymouth much gratified 
by the excursion, and the day was closed by a visit to the 
theatre, where a farce was specially ordered to be per- 
formed. 

On the 4th, the Royal visitants repaired to Sherborne 
Castle, the noble seat of Lord Digby, where an equally 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 257 

grand reception awaited them, the pleasure of the visit 
being in no small degree enhanced by the beauties of the 
surrounding scenery. 

Lord Mount-Edgecumbe arrived at Weymouth the day 
following to invite the Eoyal family to his charming resi- 
dence in Devonshire ; and the King with ready compliance 
set off on the 13th, with his Queen, Princesses, and suite, 
for Plymouth. 

On arriving at Bridport, the Eoyal party were received 
by the Corporation, three hundred of the principal inha- 
bitants of the town preceding his Majesty's carriage, 
singing "God save the King," accompanied by music, 
with colours flying. 

Triumphal arches, elegantly ornamented, were erected 
at the entrances of the town, and numerous emblematical 
devices accompanied other demonstrations of loyalty, one 
of which was tas-tefully ornamented with wreaths of 
roses, laurels, &c, and bore a complimentary inscription of 
"Health and prosperity to the House of Brunswick." 

At Charmouth, the villagers had erected a high tri- 
umphal arch of the boughs of the oak, surmounted by an 
immense crown of laurel ; which rustic device their Ma- 
jesties and the Princesses did not fail to admire. 

On approaching Honiton, the illustrious travellers met 
with a surprise in the sudden appearance of three hundred 
and fifty young girls, all dressed in white, who quickly 
surrounded the Eoyal carriages ; which interesting scene 
drew tears of sympathy from the eyes of her Majesty and 
the Princesses. 

After one day's sojourn at Exeter, the Eoyal tourists 
proceeded towards Plymouth, visiting Saltram, the seat of 
Lord Boringdon, where they were joined by the Dukes of 
York and Eichmond. 



25S THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

On the morning of the 17th his Majesty, with his 
family, arrived at Plymouth Dock, were they were re- 
ceived with all the honours of a garrison town, 
and immediately afterwards proceeded in barges, in grand 
naval procession, on hoard the Impregnable, of ninety gnns, 
Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton. The scene was rendered 
singular by the novel exhibition of a very handsome man- 
of-war's cutter, rowed by six young women, and steered 
by a seventh, all habited in loose white gowns, and black 
bonnets, each wearing a sash across her shoulder of Royal 
purple, with " Long live their Majesties" in gold charac- 
ters. These Devonshire mermaids attended the Royal 
barge during the entire excursion, and attracted the atten- 
tion of the whole Royal party, 

A grand naval review took place on the 18th, and the 
Royal party on the following day visited the dockyard. 
A visit to Mount Edgecumbe occupied the 21st, the 
views around that spot being most enchanting. 

On this occasion the Princess Royal observed to her 
sister that it was only of late they had seen the beauties 
of nature to perfection — that their lives hitherto had 
been spent rather in a cloister than in a kingdom abound- 
ing everywhere with such lovely prospects, and inhabited 
by so generous a people. 

Several days were spent in these and similar excursions, 
and on the 28th the Royal party returned to Weymouth. 

It was early in the year 1797 that the Hereditary 
Prince of Wurtemberg made his first formal proposition 
of marriage to the Princess Royal of England. Frederick 
"William was already related in a twofold degree to the 
family of Brunswick. His great-grandfather, Frederick II., 
King of Prussia, had married a daughter of George I. ; so 
that, in the female line, he was, like his proposed bride, a 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA, 259 

descendant of Sophia of Hanover, and through her, of the 
Royal house of Stuart. He was, moreover, a widower, 
with several children, the offspring of Augusta Caroline, a 
daughter of the Lady Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick, 
sister of George III. His first wife, and the ill-starred 
Caroline, wife of G-eorge IV., were sisters, and the cousins 
of Charlotte Augusta Matilda, the Princess Royal. The 
children of the Hereditary Prince of Wurtemherg were, 
therefore, second cousins to the Royal Princess to whom 
their father now proffered his hand. Had these pre-existing 
ties heen all, they needed not to influence the contracting 
parties ; as it eventually turned out, the mother-in-law 
became the real mother, in every sense that could be, of 
the family into which she was received. Rut there were 
circumstances connected with the history of the first wife 
of Frederick William, which were considered great draw- 
backs on the proposed alliance in the eyes of the parents 
of the Princess Royal, both of whom entertained the 
greatest fear of their daughter's future happiness, in the 
event of her forming such a connexion. 

Augusta Caroline, whose romantic and sorrowful history 
exceeds even that of her sister-namesake, the Queen of 
England, was married, in 1780, to the Prince of Wurtem- 
herg ; she being then in the sixteenth year of her age, 
and her husband ten years older. His sister marrying 
Paul, son of Catherine II., heir to the Russian empire, 
became, at a subsequent date, mother of Alexander of 
Russia. The Prince of Wurtemberg, entering through 
this last alliance into the service of Russia, had repaired, 
some time after his own marriage, with Augusta Caroline 
and three children, to the Russian capital, where his wife, 
by her youthful attractions, soon became a favourite with 
the Empress, whose Court was not likely to improve her 



2G0 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

morality, being generally admitted as one of the most dis- 
solute which ever existed. There, however, her husband 
imprudently left her, during his campaign against the 
Turks. Returning to her again, he found her principles 
contaminated by this atmosphere of impure morals she 
had been suffered to inhale, and her conduct the com- 
ment of every idle tongue. The indignant but too 
imprudent husband wrote off to his father-in-law, the 
Duke of Brunswick, for advice how to act, giving him a 
full account of his daughter's conduct. To remove her 
from Russia was decided in the correspondence which 
ensued ; but when leave was asked of the Empress, Cathe- 
rine refused to allow Augusta Caroline to quit her Court, 
though she acceded to the wish of the Prince as regarded 
his own return to Wurtemberg with his family. There 
was no appeal — to obey the mandate of the Empress was 
all that remained ; and the Prince returned to his wifeless 
home, accompanied by his children. A fortnight after, all 
the German attendants of Augusta Caroline were discarded 
by Catherine's orders, and their unfortunate mistress sent 
to the castle of Lhorde, two hundred miles from St. 
Petersburgh. 

Within two years, a letter from the Empress conveyed 
the news of the death of Augusta Caroline of Brunswick 
to her husband, and a similar communication was for- 
warded to the bereaved father. Could this statement 
Jiave been really true ? asked many an inquiring mind. So 
fair, so young and lovely as was the heroine of the fatal 
tragedy — it was, indeed, hard, to yield credence. She 
might yet be alive, in a state of confinement ; perhaps — 
as, indeed, her mother, the aged Duchess of Brunswick, 
stoutly maintained — she might even be exiled to the re- 
mote wilds of Siberia. But her father and brother were 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 261 

satisfied of the contrary, and regarded her fate as certain ; 
while the Prince, her husband, during eight weary years 
from the time of her death, had remained a widower. 
He must have been a mourner at heart, too ; for Augusta 
Caroline, whatever her faults might have been, was the 
mother of his children, and it was a sad fate for one so 
young — whether guilty or innocent. When variances in 
domestic life occur, who shall determine between the man 
and wife — which is right, which is wrong ? Like many 
another woman's case, that of the Princess Augusta Caro- 
line had two sides to the story. One of these, representing 
the Diike himself as the injured party, and Catherine as 
causing his wife's death, has been already related. There 
is yet another version. This declared that the love and 
esteem of the whole Russian Court were won by Augusta 
Caroline, and that the brutal treatment she experienced 
from her husband was the subject of general animadver- 
sion ; who is even accused, on one occasion, of having 
publicly struck her in presence of the Empress. That, 
instead of having remained in Russia, and come to an un- 
timely end there, the Empress, had she stayed with 
her, would have preserved her from the fate which im- 
pended over her. These and similar stories getting into 
circulation, implicated the character of the Prince in no 
small degree in this transaction : many attributed to his 
influence an increased severity in the treatment of Cathe- 
rine towards the Princess. The Duchess of Brunswick's 
positive assertion, that she knew her daughter was still 
alive, and the freedom with which the Princess Caroline 
of Wales, then recently married, opened her mind on 
the subject when it was brought before the Royal family 
of England, increased the unfavourable light in which the 
Royal suitor was regarded, and indeed brought on her- 



2G2 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

self no small displeasure from some of its members ; for 
the principal person concerned in the proposed alliance, 
the Princess Royal herself, was favourably inclined to the 
match. It became therefore a very serious consideration 
with their Majesties that, before any answer should be 
given to the suit, the character of the Prince of Wurtem- 
berg should be thoroughly cleared from any imputation 
of an unfavourable kind which had become attached to it. 
The story of Augusta Caroline, their niece, in itself was 
enough to deter them from allowing their daughter to 
enter upon so repugnant a match ; but as much as was 
known then of it had no influence in dissuading herself, 
any more than the joint remonstrances of the King and 
Queen, so much was her heart involved in the matter. 
Finding this the case, the King instituted a strict inquiry 
into the various particulars connected with the melancholy 
transaction ; and though the consent of the Princess was 
accorded, reserved his own until he had ascertained the 
death of the Princess of Wurtemberg in Russia, when he 
granted his own formal approval of a match which seemed 
requisite to his child's happiness, at least, in her own 
judgment. 

Matters being thus far satisfactorily settled, the Here- 
ditary Prince left Wurtemberg at the end of March, and 
on the 15th April, 1797, arrived in London, where he was 
waited upon by several persons of distinction, and the 
same evening introduced to their Majesties and his in- 
tended bride. The marriage, however, did not take place 
till nearly a month afterwards. On the 17th of April 
the Prince set out on a tour to Bath, Bristol, Birming- 
ham, Oxford, Portsmouth, and other places, which it was 
expected would occupy three weeks of the interval. His 



CHABLOTTE ATTGTTSTA MATILDA. 263 

Serene Highness was attended by Count Zippelin, Baron 
Goerlitz, and Sir John Hippesley. 

The young aspirants to bridal honours will have no 
difficulty in guessing at least some part of the business 
which had to be transacted in the intermediate time : 
the various dresses to be made, the ceremonials to be 
inquired into, the order of precedency, &c. &c, the brides- 
maids, and every other paraphernalia of interest in the 
smallest of weddings. And how much more so when the 
bride is a Princess Royal, still more a Princess Eoyal of 
England ! 

In the present instance, daughters of England, who do 
you think made the wedding dress ? — Xo other hands than 
those of Queen Charlotte herself, who not only wrought 
the robe, but helped to adorn her first-born daughter in 
it on the eventful morning of her marriage. As a King's 
eldest daughter, Charlotte Augusta Matilda was entitled 
to be attired in a dress of white and silver ; but by another 
custom it appears that such a bride, when marrying a 
widower, was required to appear in white and gold. So 
the robe was fashioned as etiquette ordained by the proper 
taste of the Eoyal designer, and the taste of the Princess 
conformed to the circumstance as required. This was 
part of the maternal duties : the father's heart had other 
cares of a more anxious kind to consider. He took every 
opportunity afforded by the interval of conversing with 
his daughter on the subject of her approaching nuptials, 
offering, if she should even yet change her mind, to break 
off the engagement, taking the entire responsibility on 
himself; nor did he, till the last moment arrived, regard 
the decision of the Princess Eoyal as final. When that 
moment arrived he had nothing more to say, and he him- 



264 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

self gave her away on the afternoon of the 18th of May, 
at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, though he could not 
refrain from testifying his great emotion when he did so ; 
while the Queen and Princesses, on their part, appeared to 
be overpowered with sorrow. 

About one o'clock the procession commenced. It was 
led by drums, trumpets, kettle-drums, the sergeant-trum- 
peter, and master of the ceremonies. 

The bridegroom was first to make his appearance, at 
half-past one, attired in a peach-coloured suit, richly em- 
broidered. He entered the chapel conducted by the Lord 
Chamberlain and Vice-Chamberlain, and supported by the 
Duke of Beaufort and Duke of Leeds, and attended by 
Count Zippelin, Baron Rieger, Lord Malmesbury, and 
Colonel Fane, the organ playing Handel's overture to 
" Esther." On his Royal Highness taking his seat, 
the Lord Chamberlain, &c, returned for the bride's pro- 
cession. 

Her Boyal Highness was on this interesting occasion 
superbly dressed in the robe before described, composed of 
white and gold ; she had a scarlet mantle, crimson velvet 
coronet with a broad band, and a large plume of diamonds ; 
the order of St. Catherine decorated her breast. The bride 
was supported by the Duke of Clarence, in a dark brown 
suit, richly embroidered, and Prince Ernest, who wore the 
Hanoverian uniform. Four bridesmaids, attired in white, 
supported the train : these were, the Lady Frances Somer- 
set, daughter of the Earl of Beaufort ; Lady MaryBentinck, 
daughter of the Duke of Portland ; Lady Caroline Darner, 
daughter of the Earl of Dorchester ; and Lady Mary Howe, 
daughter of Earl Howe. The ladies in attendance were 
Ladies Cathcart, C. Waldegrave, C. Finch, and F. Bruce. 
During the entrance of her Royal Highness's procession, 



CIIAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 265 

Handel's overture was played in trie same manner as when 
the Prince had entered the chapel. 

The next procession was that of the King. His Majesty, 
dressed in a dark brown suit, richly embroidered, was at- 
tended by the lords and other officers of his household, 
Lord Privy Seal, Lord President of the Council, Lord 
Chancellor, Duke of Portland, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
Archbishop of York, and the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal 
of England. 

The Queen then entered, attended by the officers of her 
household. Her Majesty was dressed in white, with a 
profusion of diamonds. 

The Prince of Wales was next in the procession, attended 
by the officers of his establishment. The dress of his 
Royal Highness was a sky-blue, richly embroidered down 
the seams, and decorated with a diamond star and epaulette. 

The Princess of Wales, in a silver tissue train, with 
purple, lilac, and green trimmings, followed her Royal hus- 
band, conducted by the Earl of Choimondeley. 

The Duke of York, in a full-dress suit of regimentals, 
and his Royal Duchess in an elegant dress — the body and 
train of lilac silver tissue, and the petticoat magnificently 
embroidered — next appeared, and were followed by the 
Princesses, in white, according to their seniority. 

The Duke of Gloucester and Prince William were in 
full uniform, and the Princess Sophia displayed a neat and 
elegant dress. 

The Maids of Honour, the peeresses of the Royal house- 
holds, followed by four yeomen of the guard, closed the 
procession. 

Upon entering the chapel, all the persons that were in 
the procession retired to the several places appointed for 
them. The King and Queen were seated in chairs of 



266 THE EOYAL rraNCESSES. 

State on the right and left of the altar. The Prince of 
Wales sat next to his Majesty ; the Princess of Wales was 
on the left of the Queen ; and the Princesses occupied 
seats arranged on each side for their accommodation. 

The Royal family having taken their seats, the marriage 
ceremony commenced. It was performed by the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Archbishop of York ; 
at the conclusion of which, the bride and bridegroom re- 
tired to their seats, when the anthem was performed. 
The procession then returned to the drawing-room in the 
same order in which it entered the chapel. The Prince 
received the hand of his amiable Princess from his 
Majesty. Her Royal Highness was perfectly collected 
and unembarrassed during the performance of the cere- 
mony ; while the Princesses, her sisters, shed tears of 
sensibility and affection on the occasion. Their Majesties 
also discovered an excess of parental feeling. The whole 
of the ceremony exhibited a scene highly interesting and 
impressive. 

The heat, owing to the immense crowd, was so intense 
that several ladies were overcome by it ; and it was with 
much difficulty that one of the bridesmaids was prevented 
from fainting away. 

The Stadtholder, the Princess of Orange, and their atten- 
dants, were accommodated in the centre of the King's 
gallery, facing the altar ; the other parts of which were 
occupied by the Duchess of Leeds, Duchess of Rutland 
and her two daughters, Lady Buckingham, Lady Stop- 
ford, and several other females of distinction. 

The orchestra was much better contrived on this occa- 
sion than on that of the marriage of the Prince of Wales, 
the organ being placed directly over the altar. 

After the solemnization of the marriage, the Queen held 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 267 

a Drawing-room, which was attended by the whole of the 
Royal family, the foreign Ministers, great officers of State, 
and a numerous and brilliant assemblage of the nobility 
of both sexes, who paid their respects to their Serene 
Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wurtemberg, on 
the occasion of their union. The Court closed at half- 
past five, when their Majesties and the Princesses Augusta 
and Elizabeth in one carriage, the Prince and Princess of 
Wurtemberg in a travelling postchaise, and the other 
Princesses in a third, all left town, with their attendants, 
for Windsor Lodge, to dinner. 

On the 23rd of the month, a splendid fete was given by 
the Queen, at Frogmore, in honour of the nuptials. Two 
days after, addresses were presented at the Drawing-room 
by the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London, congratu- 
lating her Majesty on her daughter's marriage, in which 
were contained the following complimentary observations 
on the character of the bride : — 

" The numerous and endearing virtues, native in her 
Royal mind, and cultivated with such exemplary assiduity 
by the brilliant and eminent conduct of her Royal mother, 
form at once a subject of exultation and regret, even on 
this joyful occasion : of exultation, as we are satisfied that 
the dignity of her high birth is proudly equalled by her 
transcendantly amiable qualities, which we have long ad- 
mired and revered; and of regret, as by this promising 
source of connubial felicity, the just reward of these quali- 
ties, the fair daughters of Britain will be deprived of con- 
templating, in the highest rank, one of the most conspi- 
cuous models of modern excellence. We earnestly hope, 
Madam, that an union of such exalted promise may be 
crowned with every prosperity to the illustrious pair that 
a mother's most sanguine wishes can form ; and that the 



268 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

rest of your Majesty's fair descendants maybe heiresses to 
blessings commensurate to the exalted virtues with which 
they are endowed." 

Her Majesty replied in these words : — 

" I return you my thanks for this very dutiful and 
loyal address of congratulation on the marriage of the 
Princess Royal with the Hereditary Prince of Wurtem- 
berg ; and for those sentiments, so very favourable to 
myself, with which it is accompanied." 

On Friday, June 2nd, the bridal pair quitted St. James's 
for Harwich, escorted by a party of light dragoons. The 
Princess was dressed in a blue riding-habit, with the star 
of the Russian order of St. Catherine at her breast, and 
wore a straw bonnet. She endeavoured to appear cheerful; 
but the faltering accents with which she bade her atten- 
dants and the surrounding multitude farewell, bespoke 
her agitated feelings. 

None of the Royal family were present, as they had all 
taken leave the preceding night, at Buckingham House, 
when the scene was most affecting : her Majesty and the 
Princesses were bathed in tears ; and her Royal Highness 
hung upon the neck of her father, overwhelmed with grief. 
At length the Prince, her husband, took her hand, and 
persuaded her to go with him, supporting her to the 
carriage, whither they were followed by the King, to take 
a last farewell of his beloved daughter ; but his feelings 
were so much overpowered, that he could not even articu- 
late the word adieu. The child now separated from him 
had scarcely ever lived a single day out of his presence 
before, and their parting was, in all probability, for ever. 
Those of my readers who are old enough to cast back a 
retrospective glance on the year 1797, in which the Prin- 
cess Royal's marriage took place, will recollect the political 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 269 

agitation, and existing circumstances in the history of Europe, 
which must have combined to render the union then 
formed — which was to take the amiable Princess from her 
hitherto peaceful home into the very heart of the Conti- 
nent — an anxious subject of contemplation to all who had 
her interest at heart ; and the minds of the people were 
much excited on the matter at her departure. 

On the 12th of June, Captain Hearne, of the Prince of 
Wales packet, arrived at the Admiralty, with an account 
of the safe arrival of the Prince and Princess at Cux- 
haven on Monday night at nine o'clock, in good health 
and spirits. 

The reluctance of George III. for the marriage of his 
daughter to the Prince of Wurtemberg, in the present in- 
stance, proceeded, in no small degree, from his fearing that 
at some future time he might follow the example of his 
father, the reigning Duke, and become a Eoman Catholic. 
He had several conversations with his new son-in-law, 
on religious subjects, in consequence, and his mind was 
much relieved to discover there was no danger of his 
apostacy. 

In announcing the intended marriage to the House of 
Commons, it had been stated that the Prince was a Pro- 
testant. A letter in the " Gentleman's Magazine," dated 
June 3rd, 1797, the year of his marriage, runs thus : — 

" Me. Ubbak, 

" The present Duke of Wurtemberg is a Catholic. 
He changed from the Protestant religion, in hopes of 
becoming one of the Electors, but was disappointed. The 
Hereditary Prince is a Protestant ; and if a Lavater were 
to see him, I think he would affirm he would never change 
his religion, having such a princely, firm, open, and unas- 

T 



270 THE EOTAL P1USTCESSES. 

piling countenance. May he and his Princess live long 
and happy. I hope your next will inform us of their safe 
arrival in their own dominions. 

" Yours, &c, 

" Thomas S." 

Further accounts (June 20) certified their safe arrival at 
Hanover, where they lodged at the Electoral Palace, which 
had been purposely fitted up for their reception. They 
were received there by Prince Adolphus and Prince 
Ernest of Mecklenberg. It was expected that they would 
remain only two or three days, by way of rest, and then 
proceed on their route to Stuttgardt. Prince Adolphus 
and Prince Ernest of Mecklenberg were to proceed with 
them to Stuttgardt, in order to be present there at the 
marriage of the Prince and Princess in the form of the 
Prince's country. 

From the date of her arrival in Wurtemberg, her 
adopted country became the second home of Charlotte 
Augusta Matilda. Thirty-one years had been spent by 
her in England, and another thirty were reserved to be 
devoted to the benefit of her fellow-creatures in Wur- 
temberg. From the moment of her first arrival in 
Stuttgardt, she acquired the love of all persons by her 
affability and extensive charity. She knew no greater 
pleasure than that of alleviating the distress of others, 
and in sending no one away without giving consolation 
and assistance. 

In her private life the greatest activity prevailed. She 
was dressed early in the morning, and ready for various 
occupations ; her time was wisely appropriated and em- 
ployed, partly in reading, especially religious and historical 
books — partly in writing letters, particularly to her family. 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 271 

to which she was tenderly attached — partly in drawing 
and partly in various female pursuits. 

The Duke of Wurtemberg, father-in-law of Charlotte 
Augusta Matilda, died not long after his son's marriage, at 
Stuttgardt, having previously, in consequence of his illness, 
resigned the management of public affairs to the Here- 
ditary Prince, who on his death succeeded to the govern- 
ment as his heir, December, 1797. # 

The deceased Duke had a library at Stuttgardt of 
100,000 volumes, and was a great collector of ancient 
books, having often travelled in pursuit of them, and 
given liberal prices for the possession. His collection of 
Bibles was unique, amounting to 9000, all different edi- 
tions, and of all languages (as many as fifty-one lan- 
guages, including the dialects, as stated by his Serene 
Highness himself, in a letter to Canon Bandini at Flo- 
rence). The catalogue of those of Peter Lorck, at Co- 
penhagen, contains but a fourth of this collection, yet it was 
supposed that about 3000 more were wanting to render it 
complete. This extraordinary library contains more than 
2000 volumes printed before the year 1500, and a com- 
plete collection of the memoirs of all sovereigns, families, 
and towns. 

The new Duke, soon after his father's death, made his 
peace with the French Eepublic. It is worthy of remark, 
that both the commencement and close of his reign were 
distinguished by differences between him and his States, 
who complained of the infringement of their privileges. 
In consequence of the peace of Luneville, the Duke was 
raised, in 1803, to the dignity of Elector ; and on the 
peace of Presburg, his States, which were then aggran- 

* He was born January 21, 1732, and succeeded his brother 
Louis Eugene, on March 20, 1795. 

T 2 



272 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

dized, were converted into a monarchy. Frederick William 
was proclaimed King of Wurtemberg January 1st, 1806, 
and a colossal crown was subsequently fixed on the top of 
his palace at Stuttgardt. Some account of that building 
may perhaps with interest be introduced here, as con- 
nected with the history of Charlotte, Queen of Wurtem- 
berg. I select from the pages of Mrs. Trollope, who wrote 
in these terms in 1837 : — " Neither king nor kaiser need 
desire a more superb palace than that of Stuttgardt. We 
all know that Windsor Castle has a sublimity of its own, 
to which nothing else can be compared, and St. George's 
Hall is, perhaps, the finest room in the world ; but, with- 
out having recourse to comparisons, it may be safely 
asserted that few palaces can be found at once so elegant 
and so noble as the residence of the King of Wurtem- 
berg. The number of fine apartments is quite inconceiv- 
able, and for what purpose they can all be designed is 
beyond the power of my understanding to conjecture. 
There are, however, no good pictures ; and excepting one 
or two charming things from the hand of Dannecker, they 
have little to show of the higher order of fine arts. Ne- 
vertheless, the whole display, vast as is the extent of it, is 
in uniformly good taste, both in the rooms recently fitted 
up, and in those whose costly decorations of the olden 
time have lost none of their splendour by the variations 
of fashion: in these there is a tone of rich and royal 
magnificence well worth looking upon. 

" The late Princess Eoyal of England has left many 
specimens here of her taste and skill in enamel painting, 
many beautiful cabinets being ornamented by medallions 
of her execution. 

" The gardens of this superb palace are very extensive, 
and admirably laid out, furnishing, like all the Royal 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 273 

gardens of Germany that I have yet seen, at least as 
much gratification to the people as to the Prince. A 
multitude of very magnificent orange trees are ranged 
beside all the walks and parterres near the palace ; and as 
the economical practice that prevails in Paris, of plucking 
the blossoms for orange-flower water, is not permitted 
here, the whole of this part of the garden is filled with 
the most delicious perfume."* 

Frederick William was of an impetuous and violent 
character, but loved justice, and maintained it rigorously 
in his States, though in some particular cases he is 
accused of having substituted his own will for the law. 
He was well informed in geography and natural history, 
and conversed well on the sciences. His palace was deco- 
rated with indigenous productions. He was pleased to 
see foreigners visit the Royal edifices, and the servants 
were particularly instructed to show them all the works 
of art which had been executed in Wurtemberg. There 
is one monument which will perpetuate the memory of 
this sovereign, named Frederick's Haven, a little port 
which he constructed on the Lake of Constance, and 
which greatly facilitates the commerce of the Wurtem- 
bergers with the other countries situated on the lake. 

The acquisition of the regal dignity by Frederick 
William cost him dear, in the enormous contingents of 
men he was compelled to furnish for the numerous expe- 
ditions of Bonaparte. He had himself experienced many 
reverses of fortune. During the French Revolution, when 
the Republican army had advanced on the Danube, he had 
been forced to fly and abandon his capital to foreign troops. 
It was perhaps from a wish to avoid the repetition of 
such an occurrence, that he subsequently showed himself 
* " Vienna and the Austrians." 



271 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

one of the most- zealous of the sovereigns of the Rhenish 
Confederacy, which afforded such especial gratification to 
Napoleon Bonaparte, that on more than one occasion he 
visited Queen Charlotte Augusta Matilda at her own 
Court, and, according to the Moniteur, bestowed on the 
daughter of George III. a variety of splendid presents. 
Yet was the new King of Wurtemberg under the neces- 
sity of making many unpleasant concessions. One was the 
marrying his eldest son to the Princess Charlotte of Bavaria 
— an union never consummated, and which was dissolved as 
soon as the reversed fortunes of Napoleon showed such 
a measure could be taken with safety. Catherine, the 
King of Wurtemberg's daughter, moreover, was obliged 
to be given to Jerome Bonaparte, the brother of the 
Emperor. 

It has before been remarked that the King's sister 
married Paul III. of Eussia, and was mother of Alexander, 
Constantine, and Nicholas. The present Eussian Emperor 
is her grandson. 

Frederick William was an active ally of Napoleon, and 
rigorously executed his conscription laws in his States. 
This was one of the principal grievances of which the 
country had to complain. But the King was not insensible 
to the loss of so many subjects immolated to gratify the 
ambition of a foreign despot. After the retreat from 
Moscow, while Bonaparte was passing the winter gaily at 
the Tuilleries, the King of Wurtemberg prohibited all 
public amusements. 

Frederick William had been afflicted with a liver com- 
plaint for some time before his death, which took place at 
Stuttgardt, October 30th, 1816, in the sixtieth year of his 
age. Her Majesty was most affectionately attached to him, 
and painfully felt her great loss. Every year she celebrated 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 275 

his birthday* by Divine service, on which occasion a sermon 
to his memory was preached, and she afterwards visited 
the vault where he was interred, to pray by the coffin of 
the deceased Prince. This, indeed, she often would do at 
other times. Her health, which was visibly impaired 
after his death, never kept her from this ceremony. She 
often went down to this solemn duty ill, and appeared to 
be strengthened when she came out. In general, sincere 
piety was a distinguishing feature of the Queen's charac- 
ter, and it became a source of the noblest and most un- 
wearied charity. 

From the death of the King she resided in the Palace of 
Louisburg, which town, with its environs, next to that of 
Deinach, in the Black Forest, celebrated for its mineral 
waters, the residence to which she was in the habit of 
repairing annually for her health, became the celebrated 
scenes of her active beneficence. She considered these two 
places, though without excluding others, as the sphere 
especially assigned to her by Providence. Here she 
practised the great art of dispensing widely. God had 
placed in her hands the means,f and in her heart the love of 
doing good ; so that she not only bestowed largely, but 
judiciously, and almost always contrived to multiply her 
benefits by the manner in which they were conferred. 
* He was born November 6th, 1754. 

f Her Majesty bad no annuity from tbis country. Her portion on 
marriage was 100,000?. Of that sum, one-balf being settled on 
herself, it was placed in tbe Consols, and tbe interest was regularly 
remitted to ber by a London banking-house. Tbe Commissioners 
appointed by bis Majesty as trustees for ber Eoyal Higbness tbe 
Princess of Wurtemberg were tbe Duke of Portland, Lord Grenville, 
tbe Wurtemberg Minister, and Sir John Hippesley, Bart., in wbose 
names tbe amount of ber dower was invested in tbe Tbree per Cent. 
Consols. Only balf of tbe dower remained with tbe Prince, in tbe 
event of bis baving no issue by ber Royal Higbness. 



276 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

She did not give to poor people barren and often injurious 
ilms, but made herself acquainted with their wants, and in- 
general preferred paying their rent, in order, as she said, 
to help at the same time both the poor tenant and the 
landlord, and to preserve or restore harmony between them* 
Workmen who had fallen into decay she relieved by finding 
them employment, for which she paid liberally, and their 
work was again used by her for new benefits. Above all, 
he extended her generosity to the private support of 
respectable persons who had fallen into distress, and in the 
education of children, either orphans or those whose parents 
had not the means ; she apprenticed the sons of indigent 
parents, and gave money to those who had behaved well 
in their apprenticeships, to enable them to travel and 
improve themselves in foreign countries. She was also 
very liberal to public charities ; and all this was done in 
the quietest manner, through the medium of various 
persons, and often through entirely secret channels. She 
expressly forbade any one publicly to praise, or even to 
speak of her benevolent actions. 

With this liberality to others, the Queen was extremely 
simple and unostentatious, and in this might be a model for 
her sex. When those about her tempted her to incur any 
extraordinary expense she would answer, " If I did not 
limit my own expenses, how should I have enough for 
others?" Her goodness of heart and condescension 
rendered all those who had the happiness to be near her 
so attached to her, that all* did their utmost to anticipate 
her wishes. She was most affectionately attached to all 
the Eoyal family of Wurfcemberg, especially to the King 
and Queen, by whom she was beloved as if she had been 
their own mother. 

The judgment with which she practised the art of 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 277 

relieving the distressed, was equalled by the ingenuity 
with which she made presents to persons to whom she was 
attached, or to faithful servants, which were always useful, 
never repeating the same gift ; so that the new present was 
something which seemed wanting to complete a former one, 
and what would have seemed superfluous of itself, was only 
a link in the chain of her gratifying remembrances. 
Christmas was, in particular, a festival for her ; she 
wished that everybody about her, and especially children, 
should rejoice on that festal occasion. With the indus- 
trious kindness of a good mother, she remained at her 
work for days together, and spared no pains to complete 
everything ; and when the happy eve was come, she sat in 
the circle which she had collected around her, and looked 
with silent delight at the joy of which she was herself the 
author. 

As the activity of her Majesty's mind was incessant, 
so were her hands seldom without some adequate subject 
for the display of her refined and cultivated taste, or the 
exercise of that laudable industry which to her had become 
delightful from long habit, and of which innumerable 
traces remain, to excite our admiration, and to be treasured 
as the fittest ornaments of the Royal Palace. In this her 
Majesty sought not pastime alone ; she had a higher object 
in view. She sought to inculcate a most important lesson, 
and to recommend it to those around by her own personal 
example — viz., that in the proper distribution of our time, 
and in the wise employment* of our faculties, the great 
secret of human happiness is to be found ; and that instead 
of pursuing pleasure as an occupation, we should find, on 
the contrary, that it is from prudent occupation alone that 
we can secure lasting pleasure and satisfaction. 

One circumstance must not be lost sisrht of in the his- 



278 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

tory of the Queen of Wurtemberg : it is an event which 
must be marked in the historic page. She was one of the 
sponsors of her present Majesty Queen Victoria. 

The christening of the infant daughter of the Duke of 
Kent took place at Kensington Palace, June 24th, 1820, 
when the future Queen Eegnant was named Alexandria 
Victoria. The sponsors were the Prince Regent, the 
Emperor Alexander, represented by the Duke of York, 
the Queen Dowager of Wurtemberg, represented by the 
Princess Augusta, and the Duchess Dowager of Cobourg, 
represented by the Duchess of Gloucester. 

When George IV. went to the Continent shortly after 
his coronation, the Queen Dowager Charlotte Augusta 
Matilda met him on his progress, and sportively welcomed 
him at the entrance of a house in front of which she had 
caused to be erected the sign of the Hanover Arms. 

The following is an account of a visit from William, 
Duke of Clarence : — 

" July 23, 1822. — To-morrow his Royal Highness will 
set out to visit his sister the Queen Dowager of Wurtem- 
berg. The journey will occupy three long days." This 
portion of the journey was written at the Baths of 
Liebenstein. 

On the arrival of the Duke and his suite at Mergentheim, 
where, says Dr. Beattie, in continuing his record, " we 
halted for a fresh relay, his Royal Highness was presented 
with a letter from the Queen, congratulating him on his 
arrival in that territory. It had been given in charge to 
the master of the post, so that his welcome might be 
received at the frontier. The letter was addressed, ' A 
Monsieur onon FrereJ &c. I had some difficulty in con- 
vincing the postmaster that the ' Graf von Minister,' in 
whose name the horses had been ordered and ' the Queen's 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 279 

brother,' were the same personage. The Prince of Lan- 
genbourg met his Royal Highness at Kiinzeisaw. 

"Louisburg, Friday Night. — Left Kiinzeisaw this 
morning at seven o'clock. Between Besigheim and 
Louisburg, at three leagues distance, the carriage was met 
by a special messenger from the Queen, mounted on a fine 
charger, livery bright orange, with black facings. He 
drew himself up in front of the carriage, expressed his 
Royal mistress's welcome, then wheeling round, led the way 
to the Palace, where we arrived at six o'clock. 

" This is his Eoyal Highness 's first visit. 

" Saturday Morning. — I am to be presented to the 
Queen this forenoon ; to be in the drawing-room at half- 
past twelve ; her Majesty dines at one. The Court etiquette 
is to appear in boots ; in other respects I am to observe the 
same ceremony as on a presentation at St. James's. 

" The Count de Goerlitz, Baron de G-ermmingen, and 
General de Buneau, the principal officers of the Queen's 
household, have been in my apartments, and pointed out 
the amenities of the place. The windows command an 
extensive and beautiful view of the garden, the forests, and 
more especially that portion of the Neckar which has 
acquired classic interest as the birthplace of Schiller. 
* ^ # # 

" Monday. — The Queen has something exceedingly pre- 
possessing in her manner and conversation. There are few 
whom, after a very brief acquaintance, she does not attach 
to her for life. She seems to possess the true art of securing 
the fidelity of subjects, and the unflinching attachment of 
friends. Napoleon entertained a very exalted opinion of 
her Majesty, and took every opportunity to evince, by word 



2S0 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

and action, the high estimate which he had formed of her 
qualities both of mind and heart. Several anecdotes are 
recorded of him during his Imperial visits to this Court. 
He slept here on his way to head his last and fatal Northern 
expedition. He told the Queen that he had, all along, 
had a presentiment that after the age of forty-five all his 
military projects would miscarry, and fortune take a final 
leave of his standards. The Queen inquired upon what 
principle he founded such an apprehension. He did not 
know ; it was an old presentiment ; but when or in what 
it originated, he could not tell. It was his opinion, how- 
ever, that men generally succeeded but rarely even in the 
common business of life after that age, and never achieved 
anything great or lasting. He considered that at this 
period of life there was a general decay of intellect, often 
rapid, but always in proportion to the vigour of its early 
development. In proof of this he adduced instances ; and 
at last proceeded on his way to exhibit the most striking 
instance of all in his own person to verify the presentiment. 
" Several panes in the windows of my apartment have 
the signatures of members of the Yieille Garde. Though 
frail, perhaps the only memorial that now survives them. 

■W •w Tf •?!" 

" August 1st. — To-day Sir E. and Lady Tucker were pre- 
sented to her Majesty, and dined at the Royal table ; also 
Colonel Dalton, of the Duke of Gloucester's household. 
All are on their return from Italy, with which they appear 
to have been highly delighted. 

"The Queen's establishment is here on a magnificent 
scale. The rank and number of the members composing 
her household, and every other accessory, are in strict 
harmony with the truly Regal Palace slie inhabits. 

" Two young Princesses of Wurtemfoerg reside with her 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 281 

Majesty. The elder of these is affianced to the Grand 
Duke Michael. 

•tP "w w "v? 

" The Queen is not less gifted with a faithful memory 
than her Eoyal brother. In conversing upon the many 
pleasing topics which early reminiscences supply, there 
was one to-day respecting their favourite Kew. Both 
agreed as to the year, the month, and the day upon which 
the circumstance in question took place ; the hour alone 
was left undecided. 

" This might appear unimportant to any one not accus- 
tomed to implicit reliance upon this faculty ; but with 
these Eoyal personages the memory is almost an infallible 
book of reference. The circumstance happened just before 
the general peace in 1781-2. 

# ^ % % 

" La langue universelle is here the usual medium of con- 
versation, la langue de la cour. In a late conversation, in 
which the Eoyal visitor was detailing an important series of 
occurrences to the commandant of the garrison at a soiree 
given by the Queen, a momentary hesitation occurred, and 
the only one I ever observed. It was caused by the lack 
of a technical French term for a marine subject. The 
officer could not comprehend the English expression, and 
neither he nor those around could suggest the French, till 
the Queen, with great good humour, and much to his Eoyal 
Highness's amusement, gave the word, and the conversation 
proceeded. 

"Baths of Wildbad, 21st. — At four o'clock the Queen's 
arrival was announced, and in a few minutes her Majesty 
alighted from her favourite caleclie, supported by his Eoyal 
Highness, and attended by a guard of honour, composed 
of all the notables of the place. This unexpected visit from 



2S2 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

' the good Queen' diffused joy and satisfaction over the whole 
town, which found utterance in a thousand different ways. 
To witness the truly parental solicitude with which her 
Majesty inquired into the circumstances of individuals — 
their health, their family, their good or ill-fortune —and 
the sincere interest she took in the welfare of all, was a 
scene that did every heart good. The people, on their 
part, crowded round her Majesty with expressions of grate- 
ful and loyal attachment. It was a delightful recognition 
of parental anxiety and encouragement on one hand, and 
of filial attachment and obligation on the other. 

" Such pictures are uncommon ; it is, indeed, of rare 
occurrence that the subject is allowed to express his grati- 
tude, his wrongs, or even his loyal attachment, in the Royal 
hearing. Here the meanest peasant may approach the 
Royal person without fear of repulse, and may bring his 
complaint with the full assurance of being heard. Even 
at her Palace of Louisburg, surrounded by all the show and 
circumstance of Regal condition, her Majesty is always 
accessible, always engaged in suggesting plans for the 
general welfare, and in providing for the happiness of indi- 
viduals. As reigning Queen she observed the same system 
of beneficent affability — qualities which, on her becoming 
Dowager of the kingdom, were limited, but never checked 
in their operation. While she reigned, it was in the 
affections of the people, offering an example which has been 
revived with additional lustre in the present King and his 
amiable consort. 

" At five o'clock an entertainment was prepared in the 
open air, under the shade of a huge chesnut-tree w T hich over- 
hangs the brook. In front of this the water, struggling 
through a rocky channel, and falling in foaming sheets 
from a ledge of rock, is collected into a tranquil pool or 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 283 

basin, and reposes from the noise and agitation which had 
marked its course. Around the tree are seats of accom- 
modation for the weary or the contemplative. It was under 
this shade that the late King uniformly spent some hours 
every fine day during his visits to the baths ; a circum- 
stance which gave it no ordinary power of association 
in the Queen's mind, recalling many peaceful hours and 
awakening many painful as well as pleasing recollections. 

" Upon arriving at this spot the Queen, surrounded by 
nearly the whole population of the place, took her seat on 
the rustic chair which her late consort had so frequently 
occupied. On her right sat his Royal Highness and the 
ladies of her Court, and on the left the gentlemen of the 
household, headed by the venerable Lord Chamberlain, 
Count de Grderlitz. 

" A great many persons were presented, all apparently 
delighted with their reception. Several were also pre- 
sented to his Royal Highness, with whom he entered into 
conversation, and left an impression of affability which 
was afterwards acknowledged with gratifying expressions 
of admiration. 

" The peasantry, as usual, were admitted without re- 
straint to her Majesty's presence, and enjoyed with 
satisfaction that for which many of them had this 
morning travelled far — the privilege of a long look at the 
6 good Queen.' 

" A band of excellent musicians stood at a convenient 
distance in a circle, and continued to pour forth their 
loyal and patriotic airs in great beauty and abundance. 
These were sympathetically responded to by the national 
dance, which brought numbers of the peasants into active 
operation along the densely-peopled avenue. 



284 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

" These ceremonies being concluded, and every demon- 
stration of loyal attachment evinced towards the Queen, a 
great concourse of people accompanied her on her return to 
the hotel,* where the civil and military authorities took 
their leave. The multitude in continued peals shouted 
6 Long live the good Queen !' In a few minutes more her 
Majesty passed the outskirts of the forest on her return 
to Deinach, accompanied by the prayers of all, and the 
grateful acknowledgments of some by whom that day's 
visit was to be treasured as the happiest of their lives. 

" Monday. — To-day has been varied by an excursion to 
the Baths of Liebenzell. As the afternoon was most in- 
viting, and no place in the Black Forest more beautiful 
than the Baths of Liebenzell, tea and other refreshments 
were ordered to be in readiness at five o'clock in an apart- 
ment of the inn commanding the best views of the romantic 
country in which it is embosomed. 

" At three o'clock the carriages were at the door, pre- 
ceded by an avant courier, and followed by two other 
carriages containing the usual attendants ; the Queen set 
off to enjoy the luxury of drinking tea at five o'clock, an 
hour at which many an English tradesman would be 
ashamed to have it supposed he could dine. 

" These early hours, in conjunction with daily exercise and 
the salubrious air in which that exercise is taken, have con- 
tributed most materially to benefit his Royal Highness's 

health At Meinengen and Ems, however, the 

facilities for pedestrian exercise were much greater than 
here, where, with a few exceptions, his Eoyal Highness's 
time is entirely devoted to the Queen. She is well entitled 
to it, and in return is ever planning something new for the 

* Called Konig von Wurtemberg, "the great rendezvous of the 
place." — Dr. Beattie. 



CHAKLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 285 

entertainment of her illustrious brother, to whom she is 
greatly attached. Scarcely a day has passed but her 
Majesty inquires whether I do not think his Royal High- 
ness much improved by his visit to the Black Forest. A 
question which I am able to answer most satisfactorily. 

" As we proceeded, I talked over this subject with some 
of her Majesty's Court. They all descanted with great 
pleasure and satisfaction on the visible improvement which 
they observed in the Queen's health during each of these 
successive visits, the very anticipation of which, the Count 
de Goerlitz assured me, operated like a charm upon his 
Royal mistress's health. The Queen, he deeply regrets to 
state, does not, in the long intervals which divide these 
visits of her family, take that frequent and prolonged exer- 
cise which her physicians, and all who are acquainted with 
her Majesty's constitution, consider so essential to her 
health. But on the arrival of his Royal Highness, not a 
day passes without her spending a certain number of hours 
in the open carriage, the consequences of which are soon 
visible to every member of the household, and diffuse 
a pleasure and satisfaction around which cannot be 
expressed, but which nothing less than such a convic- 
tion could create. c Would to God,' he added, c his Royal 
Highness's visit could be prolonged ! We all look forward 
with apprehension and anxiety to his departure and the 
ensuing winter, unless indeed the Landgravine of Hesse 
Homburg should pass some part of it at Louisburg. In 
this case I shall feel unmistakeable relief ; for by the time 
that amiable Princess takes her leave, her Majesty will 
begin to indulge the cheering prospect of his Royal High- 
ness's third visit, which we are all delighted to hear will 
take place next July. Ah ! my dear friend,' concluded 
the worthy Count, ' I have been forty years at Court ; I 

v 



2S6 THE ROYAL ritlSTCESSES. 

attended the late King to London, on his intended 
marriage with the Princess Royal ; thence all over your 
magnificent countiy. We spent a day at Oxford, where 
his Majesty (then Duke of Wurtemberg) was admitted a 
Doctor of the University, and the same honour, in compli- 
ment to the Duke, was conferred upon myself. Ha ! you did 
not know that I was a dignitary of Oxford ? I returned 
with their future Majesties in triumph to Stuttgardt ; and 
never having quitted her presence for a single day, unless 
through illness, during the long and eventful period that 
succeeded, I need not add that I feel, in common with 
every one around her, the most lively interest in her 
Majesty's health. I am now old, and cannot expect to sur- 
vive her; but were I young, young as when I first 
attended her to her adopted country, I would not wish it.' 
" ' Nor I, nor any of us,' interrupted the Baron de 
Germmingen ; * her Majesty's health is most precious to us, 
who, every day of our lives, are the objects of her unceasing, 
and, I may truly say, parental solicitude. When any 
member of her household is sick or threatened with sick- 
ness, no matter of what standing or station in her service, 
her solicitude makes no distinction ; her anxiety to remove 
or mitigate affliction, under whatever shape, and in whom- 
soever it may appear, is manifested in a thousand different 
ways, each evincing the kindly interest she feels for us all. 
No wonder then that all should express what they deeply 
feel — the most cordial attachment to the Queen, founded 
upon a just admiration of her virtues, and the daily expe- 
rience of her benefits.' 

" The party was now at tea : her Majesty seated in an 
arm-chair, upon a nicely sanded floor ; his Royal High- 
ness at her right hand ; a table in the centre, with the 



CHABLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 287 

tea equipage ; a boiling kettle in the middle, and three of 
the ladies of honour seated round it ; the gentlemen and 
myself standing near the window, and enjoying the rich 
forest, grey ruins, and pine-clad hills by which this beauti- 
ful retreat is on all sides hemmed in. 

" For the benefit of those who make picnic parties, 
where the necessary expenditure of china in breakage is 
often a subject of serious reflection for next day, I would 
suggest the plan adopted by her Majesty — namely, a metal 
apparatus. On this, as on former occasions, the cups and 
saucers were all of silver, gilt inside, so that they may be 
transported without risk, and survive a whole century of 
inadvertent tumbles. 

"Saturday. — Lord Erskine and family arrived from 
Baden. His lordship is a very agreeable man, and much 
esteemed by the King and Royal family here. 

" Tuesday, 26th. — The morning was spent in preparation 
for the Hercynian games, and after an excellent dinner, 
served in the hall or bazaar-room already mentioned, the 
business of the day was announced by sound of trumpet. 
In front of the chateau, which offered a most convenient 
space for the ensuing pastimes, the crowd was concen- 
trated. The Queen, with her visitors and attendants, 
occupied the front windows, and the various prizes being 
duly displayed and enumerated, the games began." 

Dr. Beattie's entertaining account of the races which 
ensue between first the young bachelors, and after them 
the shepherdesses of the locality, is highly pleasing. To 
these succeeded donkey races, and then a singular national 
game, which space alone deters me from inserting for its 
eccentricity. Music, dancing, singing and wassail closed 
the day, and closed it in harmony, without accident to 
mar the festivity which had prevailed. 
u 2 



2SS THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

" Palace of Louisburg, August 2nd. — Left Deinach yes- 
terday morning at five o'clock, and arrived here by across 
road at ten. At five o'clock there was a full Court din- 
ner, where the High Chamberlain appeared in the name of 
the King to compliment his Royal Highness, and to make 
him a tender on the part of his Majesty of every possible 

accommodation during his stay in this territory The 

bright sun of Louisburg contrasts strangely with the cool 
and tranquil shades of Deinach. Here all is military 
manoeuvre, the incessant clang of trumpets, and the roll 
of drums ; there all was peaceful meditation and tranquil 
enjoyment. The only sound that was heard in its retired 
solitude was the horn of the cowherd or the tinkling of 
the goat-bells as they went or returned from the forest. 
.... The Queen evidently anticipates his Royal High- 
ness' s departure with regret. His visit has been a source 
of great pleasure to her There is to be a State din- 
ner at the King's Palace on Thursday next. 

"H* •JS" "7? "W 

" The Queen often mentions the Elgin family. To-day, 
she particularly alluded to a former visit from the Countess 
and her daughters ; inquired if I was acquainted with 
them, and expressed a most friendly interest in their 
favour. One, in particular, Lady Matilda, is often named 
by her Majesty, and the members of her household, in 
terms of high and delicate compliment. No ordinary 
accomplishments of mind or person could have left behind 
them so flattering a souvenir. 

•f? tP *JV" ~A" 

" One day, a c person of distinction' was announced. 
1 Deeming it might be considered a mark of disloyalty if 
he passed through Stuttgardt without being presented to 
the Queen, he had come to Louisburg for that express 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 289 

purpose.' Accessible at all times to the faithful subjects 
of her brother's throne, her Majesty made ready to receive 
the stranger with becoming ceremony. The officers of 
the household attended, and the Grand Marshal of the 

Palace presented ' Mr. , from London,' in due form. 

A speech followed, but it betrayed the speaker, or showed 
at least that it was his first act of diplomacy. The audi- 
ence was suddenly broken up — the Queen withdrew, and 
the stranger, retiring with the Royal functionary, felt that 
he had ; caught a Tartar.' 

" This individual, it may be added, was an inferior clerk 

in the button manufactory of Messrs. , and dressed 

in the extremity of fashion. The Queen, in relating this 
anecdote, laughed heartily at the recollection of the mock 
heroic speech, and other burlesque circumstances attending 
the special presentation. Specie decipimur omnes. 

Olm 4lm SI* «Sfc 

•A* -Tr w "St 

"4th.— To-day the Queen and his Royal Highness came 
to spend the day at Stuttgardt. They walked over the 
Palace, splendidly furnished, of vast extent, and almost 
every apartment exhibiting specimens of the Queen's 
work in painting or embroidery. The apartments for- 
merly occupied by Napoleon, and latterly by the Emperor 
Alexander, are superb, both in decoration and dimension. 
Surprised by the unprecedented number of musical time- 
pieces, &c Subsequently repaired to the celebrated 

picture gallery, where his Royal Highness spent an hour. 
.... Then revisited the studio of the German Canova, 
Danekker, who is at this moment engaged upon a colossal 
statue of St. John, by command of the Emperor, and in- 
tended for a church in St. Petersburg. 

" At two o'clock returned to the Palace, and sat down to 
a magnificent banquet, service of gold ; the plateau 



290 THE EOXAL PRINCESSES. 

most elaborately carved, and ornamented with statues and 
allegorical groups. The King's Chamberlain and other 
officers of the Court were in attendance. It was in every 
sense a Regal banquet. 

" After dinner the Court equipage drove up, the party 
proceeded to the Baths of Canstadt, and afterwards alighted 
to view the new Palace, erecting upon a beautiful eminence 
over the Neckar." 

In the summer of 1S25-6, in the middle of July, the Duke 
of Clarence, soon after recovering from his severe illness, 
went once more to visit the Queen of Wurtemberg at Dei- 
nach, her summer residence in the Black Forest. The Queen 
Dowager was overjoyed at seeing her brother ; and it 
became evident that the meeting, and the excursions which 
followed, had an exhilarating effect upon both the Royal 
personages. "These early hours," says Dr. Beattie, "in 
conjunction with daily exercise, and the salubrious air in 
which that exercise is taken, have contributed most mate- 
rially to benefit his Royal Highness' s health. He is at 
this moment as vigorous as if he had not passed the age of 
forty. In proof of this, he has on various occasions been 
several hours a-foot, without experiencing anything like 
exhaustion or even fatigue." 

Deinach is a singularly romantic hamlet, situated on 
the border of the Black Forest, skirted by feudal and 
monastic ruins, and presenting an endless succession 
of all those picturesque beauties which arrest and fix the 
attention of the naturalist or the painter, and, to a refined 
and contemplative mind, give free scope for the indul- 
gence of the best feelings of which the human heart is sus- 
ceptible. It was here, too, in an antique and extensive 
Palace, overhung by hills of pine, traversed only by a 
mountain stream, and commanding objects of unceasing 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 291 

interest, that her Majesty was in the habit of receiving 
annual visits from some member of her august family. 
Having repeatedly experienced herself the salutary effects 
of a summer's residence at Deinach, her Majesty had 
acquired a strong local attachment for the place. Her 
annual visit was anticipated by all ranks with impatience, 
and hailed with loyalty and delight as the signal for re- 
suming those innocent festivities in which the entire popu- 
lace took an eager part, and in the presence of their august 
patroness revived the ancient games of the country, while 
the victors in these were rewarded by suitable prizes, in- 
stituted and distributed by her Majesty in person. 

On the day of her Majesty's leaving this place on her 
return to Louisburg, in the month of August, it was the 
uniform and affecting custom of the peasantry and others 
to assemble on the morning of her departure, to testify 
their strong attachment to their Royal and beloved mis- 
tress, by twining the panels of her carriage and all its 
appendages with wreaths of evergreen, and the choicest 
flowers of the place and season, as the silent but expres- 
sive votive offering for her return. 

The same ceremony was observed as the several car- 
riages of her Majesty's suite left in succession; and at 
every halt in her progress fair hands continued to offer 
symbolic flowers, till the halls of Louisburg rang once 
more with the Royal welcome. 

" Deinach, Black Forest, 15th July, 1825.* 

" Arrived here last night. The country indescribably 
beautiful. His Royal Highness has enjoyed every hour 

of the journey The Queen has condescended to 

express, in very gracious terms, the pleasure she felt in 
seeing me a second time. 

* Dr. Beattie's Journal. 



202 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

" The Royal establishment remains as it was on the 
former visit to Louisburg. There are six ladies of honour, 
accomplished and amiable women ; about the same number 
of gentlemen, the Comte de Goerlitz, Baron de Germmingen, 
Baron de Wechmar, General de Buneau, the physician, 

treasurer, &c The Queen's physician is dead since 

the former visit ; Dr. Ulmer has succeeded him. He is 
young ; has his w T ife here, and a remarkably tine little boy, 
much noticed by his Royal Highness, who is very partial 
to children 

" To-day great numbers of peasantry from the neigh- 
bouring communes have arrived to spend a gay afternoon. 

The costume is very like that worn at Berne. 
■afc Jt. jp. jb 

" The verdure of the valleys, which here intersect the 
forest, is the most rich and velvet-like I ever saw. Each 
of these valleys has its mountain brook, by which it is 
traversed in a thousand fantastic meanders. 

u We are here so overtopped by the pine forest, that the 
sun takes leave at five o'clock ; and if we would lengthen 
our days, we must follow him to the mountains. The 
long delightful twilight that succeeds is a very agreeable 
substitute for the broad day ; and to this circumstance 
Deinach owes much of its peculiar attraction during the 
summer months. There is always a fresh current of air, 
with abundance and depth of shade at hand. 
# # # # 

"Hercynia. — This immense forest has been partially 
cut down in many places, and tracts of rich arable, towns, 
and principalities have replaced it. The extensive portions 
of it which remain are divided into the distinctive appella- 
tions of Hartzwald, Bohmerwald, Thtiringerwald, and the 
Schwarzwald, or Black Forest, where I now write. 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 293 

"In this highly romantic and beautiful recess the 
Queen Dowager of Wurtemberg has for many years 
fixed her summer residence. From many local circum- 
stances, and the benefit she has so often derived from the 
periodical use of its waters, her Majesty is particularly 
attached to this solitude. 

" In addition to the Royal chateau and extensive offices, 
the village contains abundant accommodation for the 
numerous strangers and invalids who annually resort to 
the salubrious waters and grateful shade of Deinach. 

" It is here that, laying aside the artificial State and 
more external forms of Royalty, her Majesty enters into 
the simple pastimes and tranquil occupations of private 
life, and where every member of her Court enjoys the like 
immunities. 

" The presence of such a personage is of infinite im- 
portance to the prosperity of the place. The announce- 
ment of her visit is the signal of happy rendezvous to the 
towns and communes with which this portion of the forest 
abounds. Each, taking its holiday in succession, sends 
forth its wealthier portion of inhabitants to enjoy their 
week's pastime in the presence of the Queen. These again 
are replaced by others, so that the Baths of Deinach pre- 
sent a constant succession of visitors. 

" At stated times also, the inferior peasantry are invited 
to the celebration of games and other pastimes peculiar 
to this district of the ancient Hercynia, which gives a new 
character to the place and people. Music and dancing are 
heard at all hours. In addition to her Majesty's band, 
which plays a series of national airs during dinner and 
supper, there is always one or more itinerant Bohemian 
bands, which fill up every pause, making music the special 
business of life. 



201 THE ROYAL PEISTCESSES. 

" The hours and domestic arrangements of her Majesty's 
household are managed with primitive simplicity — every- 
thing worthy of imitation she recommends by personal 
example. At the head of these is the practice of early 
rising, which is universal with the Court, as it is with all 
classes of the community. 

" The Queen is every morning visible at six o'clock ; nor 
does the vigour of her mind allow even bodily indisposition 
to interfere with the extreme regularity of her habits, 
unless under circumstances of urgent necessity. 

"The economy of time, and the nicely adjusted propor- 
tions in which it is distributed to the various and im- 
portant duties of the da} r , attest the wise and judicious 
employment of a materiel which no art can accumulate, 
which the next moment may forfeit, and in the wise 
appropriation of which consists the true philosophy of life. 

" Between six and seven o'clock at latest breakfast is 
served to each member of the household in his respective 
chamber, after the French fashion. It consists of coffee, 
warm milk, and fresh rolls, and is left on the toilette-table 
for the solitary repast of the inmate or guest. 

" The social breakfast of England is unknown in this 
country, unless where occasionally introduced. The Queen 
and her ladies all follow the national custom of breakfasting 
thus early and alone. 

" Dinner. — At one o'clock, the band takes its station 
under the windows of the drawing-room. The com- 
pany assemble from their several apartments ; the usual 
compliments are exchanged, and conversation, for which 
the weather here, as everywhere else, is a fertile resource, 
is kept up till the Queen is announced by the opening 
of the folding-doors of the Eoyal entree. 

" The gentlemen now file off to the left, and the ladies 



CHAKLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 295 

to the right, forming a crescent, in the middle of which 
her Majesty, led by her Eoyal brother, pauses to receive 
the homage of her household, and the presentation of 
such guests as rank or circumstances may have brought to 
her table. 

" In these cases, the goodness of her heart, her courtly 
and prepossessing manner, never fail to put the stranger at 
his ease, and to show how little native dignity requires the 
specious accessories of pomp and c circumstance' to give 
it effect. 

" After addressing obliging inquiries, as is her custom, 
to every individual in the circle, the doors of the banquet- 
room are thrown open, her Majesty, leaning on the arm of 
his Royal Highness, enters and takes her seat near the 
centre of the table, with the Duke on her right, and the 
guest of the day occupying the chair on her left. The 
company immediately follow by two and two, the Cham- 
berlain offering his arm to the lady who has the right of 
precedence ; and the others, following according to their 
birth or station in the household, take their places round 
the table, of oval form and liberal dimensions. 

" In the centre is a plateau, richly ornamented, and 
exhibiting in tasteful distribution bouquets of fruits and 
flowers — some natural, others artificial. Vases of precious 
metal and baskets of filigree work, each with an appro- 
priate complement of flowers or fruit, are stationed at 
regular intervals along the centre of the table, producing 
a very pleasing effect, and diverting the eye during the 
intervals of the successive courses. 

Ct Before each guest are placed two square pieces of bread, 
black and white — the former is that of general preference. 
Three small crystal flasks, holding something less than a 
pint, are arranged in front of each plate, one containing 



296 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

white Rhenish or Neckar wine, the other Claret or 
Burgundy, and the third excellent spring-water. 

Jt. M. M. M. 

■7T -A" "A* "JS" 

" At the sideboard stands the maitre d 1 hotel in his State 
uniform, and keeping a vigilant eye on the performance. 
On his right and left two silver censers are constantly 
burning, serving the double purpose of diffusing an 
agreeable incense over the apartment, and of restoring to 
their legitimate temperature such dishes as have lost a 
degree or two by a careless or premature importation from 
the kitchen. 

" Behind her Majesty's chair stand two pages, in blue 
and silver. Behind every other at table a servant in livery, 
consisting of orange faced with black, and terminating 
inferiorly in a pair of high-heeled powerful Hessian 
boots 

" During the repast, several of the more choice and 
costly wines of France or Spain are handed round in glasses, 
repeated at short intervals, and generally in fresh variety. 
Dishes of elaborate study, and alluring in scent and aspect, 
are in constant progress round the circle, sufficient to 
tempt an epicure beyond his strength, and to pamper the 
most fastidious appetite. 

" Her Majesty, opposite to whom I have the honour of 
a place, dines sparingly, and limits her diet almost ex- 
clusively to vegetable and farinaceous dishes, accompanied 
with a glass of Malaga during dinner. She observed to 
me jocularly to-day after dinner, ' The ladies will never 
admit in England that they can possibly have gout ; there 
is something in the name so offensive to their delicacy ; 
but, I assure you, I make no secret of the matter, and 
suffer from gout exceedingly at times.' 

" At the conclusion of dinner, which seldom occupies a 






CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 297 

full hour, her Majesty rises from table, and, retiring to the 
drawing-room in the same manner she entered, is followed 
by the company as before. Here she converses affably 
with her guests during the time that coifee and liqueurs are 
handed round the circle, first partaking of the former her- 
self, and then recommending the beverage to others — this 
being the winding-up of the entertainment. 

"Her Majesty retires to her private apartments, or enters 
her carriage, which is always in waiting at this hour, if 
the weather be favourable, and, accompanied by his Eoyal 
Highness, takes a drive of some hours through the 
romantic passes of the forest. 

" The three favourite spots to which her Majesty resorts 
on these occasions are "Wilhelmshohe, the Tower of 
Sablestein, and the Eose-garten. 

" On leaving the open air the Queen retires to her apart- 
ments, and the company to the drawing-room, where 
music, conversation, and the novels of Sir Walter Scott, 
afford delightful occupation till the hour of supper. 

" Here the maxim of i early to bed, and early to rise,' is 
strictly observed and practised. The supper-table is de- 
serted by ten o'clock at latest, and the household, unless 
on extraordinary occasions, distributed through their 
several apartments." 

Meantime the Queen preserved the warmest attachment 
to her native country, for whose manners, constitution, and 
welfare she always retained a genuine British feeling ; and 
she was induced in the spring of 1827, by the desire of 
once more seeing her beloved family, and by the hope that 
she might obtain relief from a complaint, dropsy, which 
had afflicted her for many years, and had increased her 
size in an extraordinary degree, to undertake a journey ta 
England. She arrived without any accident. The per 



29S THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

sons who accompanied her Majesty on that occasion could 
not find terms to describe the landing in England : the 
affectionate reception given her b}' her Royal brother and 
all her august relations ; the delightful domestic circle 
into which she returned, after an absence of thirty years ; 
and the acclamations of the people, wherever they saw, 
even at a distance, the favourite daughter of Greorge III. 
One of her own most ardent desires was fulfilled. Her 
bodily sufferings appeared to he for a time alleviated by 
the joy which she felt. She seemed to live again in the 
remembrances of her youth — no friend, no old servant had 
been forgotten. Where any persons with whom she used 
to deal were still in business, she sent for them and made 
some purchases. 

Sir Astley Cooper, and other eminent surgeons, were 
called in to attend the Queen ; and, by Sir Astley Cooper's 
advice, her Majesty underwent the operation of tapping 
while residing in St. James's Palace, which was per- 
formed by Sir Astley with great privacy. There were at 
one time flattering hopes that the operation would lead 
ultimately to a perfect cure, but the event proved the 
fallacy of any such expectation. 

The circumstances which attended her Majesty's return 
home exhibited her strength of mind and her trust in Grod 
in the brightest light. On the second day after she had 
embarked, when she was very ill and much agitated by 
the parting with her family, a violent storm at the mouth 
of the Thames threatened her and all on board with the 
most imminent danger. In this trying moment her 
attendants could not sufficiently admire the unshaken 
courage of the Queen. When any of them went to her 
cabin to console her, they found her in no want of con- 
solation ; composedly lying on a sofa, she said to them, " I 



CHAELOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 299 

am here in the hand of God as much as at home in my 
"bed." The peril, however, passed away, and the august 
traveller returned to Wurtemberg in safety. 

Unhappily her bodily sufferings increased after that 
period, and dropsy in the chest gradually manifested itself. 
At the same time, pains in the head, to which she had 
been subject for many years, and other symptoms, gave 
reason to apprehend that part of the brain was affected, 
which, on dissection, was afterwards found to be the case. 
Her Majesty frequently experienced great difficulty in 
breathing, was obliged to be carried up-stairs in a chair, 
and when she entered a carriage, to be assisted by two 
domestics. So far, however, was she from exhibiting any 
serious idea of her approaching dissolution, that she enter- 
tained at dinner the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury at 
her Palace of Louisburg only three days previously to 
her death ; and having withdrawn with them in the course 
of the evening to her private apartments, kept up for 
nearly two hours a most interesting and affable conversa- 
tion on a variety of topics. 

On the 6th of October, 1828, having just entered the 
sixty-third year of her age, her Majesty expired without a 
struggle, gently and imperceptibly, in the arms of the 
King, her son-in-law, and surrounded by affectionate friends 
and faithful servants. Her mortal remains were deposited, 
on October 12th, with due solemnity, by the side of her 
husband, in the vault of Ludwigsberg. 

" On the 12th of October her Majesty's obsequies were 
celebrated in the cathedral at Stuttgardt, which was suitably 
fitted up for the occasion, in the presence of the King of 
Wurtemberg, chief mourner, the Royal family, the Court, 
the civil and military authorities, and a great number of 
persons of all ranks. After a dirge by Zumsteeg, the 



300 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Court chaplain delivered an impressive discourse on the 
text, c The memory of the just is blessed.' A sketch of 
her Majesty's life, composed by the King's command, 
which was read at the conclusion of the sermon, furnished 
the biographical data for the eulogium bestowed by the 
preacher on the deceased Queen ; an eulogium which 
deserved to be, and which probably will yet be made more 
extensively public. A similar religious ceremony took 
place on the same day at Louisburg, and on the follow- 
ing Sunday was repeated in all the parishes of the 
kingdom. Her Majesty's death was sincerely lamented at 
Stuttgardt on account of her extensive private charities 
and her numerous endearing and amiable qualities. 

" The will of her Majesty, the Queen of Wurtemberg, was 
proved in the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, by his Excellency the Count de Mandelsloh, 
Minister from Wurtemberg to the British Court, who was 
also named as the attorney executor, representing his 
Majesty, the reigning King of Wurtemberg. 

" The property in England was sworn under the value of 
80,000Z. sterling ; and the will, which was in the German 
language, beautifully written on vellum, was dated from the 
Palace of Louisburg, the 23rd day of December, 1816. 
Many of the legacies had consequently lapsed, from the 
death of the legatees. The following is a correct abstract 
of the several bequests in the order in which they appear 
in the will : — 

" Her Majesty, in the event of her Koyal father or 
mother surviving her, appoints them her heirs in legiti- 
main, with a request that her property thus devolving to 
them be either immediately, or at least at their Majesties' 
decease, given up entire or undiminished to those heirs to 



CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA MATILDA. 301 

whom she has bequeathed the residue of her property and 
effects. 

"In case of her Majesty's surviving her Royal parents, 
her Majesty gives the whole of the property secured to 
her under her marriage settlements (subject to the lega- 
cies thereafter noticed) to the legitimate children of the 
present King of Wurtemberg, her Majesty's son-in-law, 
and constitutes them her principal heirs ; but directs the 
same to be preserved entire and undiminished as a family 
jldei commission, and that consequently her heirs shall 
not be entitled to dispose of the substance of such pro- 
perty, but shall have only the usufruct thereof as an 
annual revenue." 

The following are the specific legacies given by the 
will : — 

"The rings (thirty in number), and the drawings which 
her late consort bequeathed to her, are directed to be 
given, the former to the Royal Museum of Arts and 
Curiosities, and the latter to the Royal Private Library 
at Wurtemberg. 

" The heron aigrette, presented to her Majesty by the 
Grand Seignor Selim III., to be given to the Royal 
house of Wurtemberg, to form part of the jewels of the 
crown ; also her late consort's portraits, but without their 
mountings ; and also the portraits of the Royal family of 
England ; and directs them to be placed in the gallery of 
the Royal family at Wurtemberg. 

" To his Majesty the King of Wurtemberg she be- 
queaths the collection of English translations of ancient 
classics, all the historical works, together with the collec- 
tion called the English classics in the Palace of Louis- 
burg ; also the portrait bust of her late consort ; painted in 



302 THE EOY"AL PRINCESSES. 

oil by Ketch ; the bust of the Princess Catherine de Mont- 
fort, in Carrara marble ; a clock in bronze, representing a 
standing figure, with a garland of stars ; the turquoise, 
mounted in a ring usually worn by, and which devolved to, 
her late consort out of the effects of the late Count van 
Zeppelin, senior. 

" Her Majesty begs the present Queen of Wurtemberg 
to accept, as a token of remembrance, a round table of 
bronze and marble, with a porcelain slab, upon which is a 
view of Monrepos ; also a round table of mahogany, with 
three bronze figures, and a painted porcelain slab, and a 
family breakfast service of Ludwigsberg porcelain ; also her 
chrysolite necklace, earrings, and head-band set with 
brilliants. 

" To her granddaughter, the Princess Marie of Wurtem- 
berg, a row of forty -two Oriental pearls, received by her 
Majesty as a nuptial present from her late husband ; and 
also a blue enamelled gold watch, set with brilliants, with 
a jasper chain. 

"To the said Princess Marie, or the eldest daughter of 
the King of Wurtemberg, the necklace, made of the pearls 
and four large brilliants, from the large epaulette be- 
queathed to her Majesty by her late consort." 

To the children of her son-in-law, Prince Paul of 
Wurtemberg, she bequeaths as follows : — " To Prince 
Frederick, a large gilt tea-urn and a silver standish. To 
Prince Augustus, two pair of silver candelabra. To the 
Princess Charlotte, six corn-ears in brilliants, and an 
English silver tea-service. To the Princess Pauline, six 
brilliant corn-ears, a silver tea-urn, and a silver toilet. To 
the Duchess Louise of Wurtemberg, a coffee-service of 
Ludwigsberg gilt porcelain, with a view of Friudenthal; 
also a fire-screen, with a painting on tin, after Baphael." 



CHAELOTTE ATTGT7STA MATILDA. 303 

The following are the bequests to the Royal family of 
England : — 

" To her mother, the Queen of England, a hair-pin in the 
form of a half-moon, set with brilliants, and also a break- 
fast service of Vienna porcelain, of which the teaboard 
represents the death of Dido. 

" To his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, his present 
Majesty, a clock in an alabaster case, together with four 
vases thereunto belonging:. 

" To the Duke of York, a clock in alabaster, with four 
vases, mounted in bronze. 

a To the Duke of Clarence, a clock in bronze, ornamented 
with Cupid wheeling a barrow, and also two bronze 
candlesticks, in the form of negroes. 

" To the Duke of Kent, a clock in white marble, sur- 
mounted by a couchant lion, with two bronze candlesticks. 

" To the Duke of Cumberland, two clocks in bronze, 
one of them in the form of an urn, and the other in the 
form of a globe. 

" To the Duke of Sussex, two clocks in bronze, with 
couchant dogs. 

" To the Duke of Cambridge, a clock in bronze, repre- 
senting a basket of flowers, and two gilt porcelain vases. 

"To the Princess Augusta of England, a pair of 
bracelets, having four rows of small pearls, and clasps set 
round with brilliants, and with some of the hair under a 
glass of her beloved parents. A souvenir of gold, with 
portraits of the King and Queen of England (George III. 
and Queen Charlotte). A portrait of the Princess Eliza- 
beth, painted by Edridge. A ring, containing a watch set 
with brilliants. A head-band of pearls, studded with eleven 
cross rows of brilliants. 

" To the Princess Elizabeth, one round medallion, set 
x2 



304 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

with thirty-four brilliants ; two cups of gilt filigree ; a 
standish of silver filigree ;, a square pin set with brilliants, 
containing the hair of the late Princess Amelia ; the por- 
trait bust of his late Majesty George III., in oil, by Gains- 
borough ; a small half-portrait of her late Majesty Queen 
Charlotte ; a large flower-piece, in oil, by Baptisto ; a large 
flower-piece, in oil, by Yanhuysen ; and a necklace and 
earrings set with large chrysophases, surrounded with 
brilliants. 

" To the Princess Mary, a medallion with nine rosettes, 
containing some of the hair of the Princess Amelia ; a pair 
of bracelets with rosette clasps, containing the hair of the 
late Duke and Duchess of York ; a girdle of three rows of 
pearls, with thirteen brilliants ; and an oval clasp set with 
brilliants, containing some of the hair of her mother, the 
late Queen. 

" To the Princess Sophia, two medallions in gold, with 
the portraits of the Princesses Augusta and Elizabeth ; 
a similar medallion, with the portrait of the King of 
England, her father ; and a pair of earrings with pearl- 
drops, mounted in brilliants. 

" Her Majesty recommends the persons attached to her 
household to the favour and protection of the King of 
Wurtemberg, hoping that, in consideration of the circum- 
stance of her Majesty having disposed of the mass of her 
property to the House of Wurtemberg, his Majesty will be 
pleased to provide suitably for her servants." 



305 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AND AMELIA. 

Birtli of Augusta Sophia — Christening — Inoculated — Birth of Sophia — 
Teachers of the Princess — Her first appearance in public — Birth 
of Amelia — Letters of Mrs. Delaney — Procession on "Windsor 
Terrace — Attempt on the King's life — Frogmore — Queen of 
"Wurtemberg's birthday — National jubilee — Illness and death of 
Amelia — Illness of the King — Death of the Queen — Her will — 
Death of the King — Members of his family present at the time — 
Further history of Augusta Sophia and Sophia. 

The early history of the sister scions of the Royal family 
of Queen Charlotte bears so great a similarity, that the 
memoir of the Queen of Wurtemberg, prior to her mar- 
riage, may be said to give the whole of the most striking 
particulars. One reason of this was the very domestic 
habits of the Queen and her daughters, another their 
proximity in age. Only two years' difference existed be- 
tween the Princess Royal and Augusta Sophia, and Prin- 
cess Elizabeth was but two years yoimger still than 
Augusta Sophia, so that they must have been not only 
famous playmates, but excellent companions in infancy. 
The next daughter of Charlotte was Mary, afterwards 
Duchess of Gloucester, five years younger, born 1776, to 
whom a separate notice will be given. Sophia, still 
younger, born 1777, and Amelia in 1783; the last, the latest 
born and best beloved of King George's daughters, that 
fair flower destined to be snatched from the world in the 
very bloom of womanhood. JSTot with the married daughters 
of the srood King — the benevolent Charlotte Augusta 
Matilda, the amiable and tasteful Elizabeth of Hesse 
Homburg, or the fair, gentle, and excellent Mary, our ever 



30G TIIE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

to be lamented Duchess — that last tie of a past generation, 
so lately departed to a higher state than any this world 
could bestow — may the pen of the historian now linger : 
it rests with the three sisters with whom Englishwomen 
have long been happily associated in the history of these 
our own times. Years have passed away indeed since 
Amelia departed from amongst us ; but her sad story was 
long, very long, familiar on the hearth of every English 
home. 

Augusta Sophia, second daughter of Charlotte, was 
born December 7, 1768. The Queen's illness commenced 
at seven in the evening, and the Princess was ushered into 
the world at half-past eight. The Dowager Princess of 
Wales, his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, the two 
Secretaries of State, the ladies of honour, &c, were present 
on the occasion. The accounts continued favourable of 
the health of both mother and infant. Numerous indeed 
were the nobility who thronged to make inquiries on this 
occasion and be entertained with cake and caudle. 

Among the young ladies who presented themselves at 
the Palace to see the Eoyal babe, were two who are said to 
have so indiscreetly partaken of the good cheer so hand- 
somely provided, that, losing their discretion still further, 
they walked off with the cup in their keeping also, not 
being satisfied with the contents. On detection they were 
pardoned, after kneeling to ask forgiveness. 

Two messengers had been despatched with the earliest 
tidings of Queen Charlotte's safety, and the news of 
Augusta's birth, to the Court of Mecklenburg Strelitz, and 
other European Courts. The two young Princes of Meck- 
lenburg, the Queen's brothers, shortly after arrived from 
Germany, and were immediately conducted to the Queen's 
house. 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, ATO AMELIA. 307 

The ceremony of baptism was performed on December 
7th,inthe grand council-room at St. James's, the Archbishop 
of Canterbury officiating ; the name given to the Eoyal 
child was Augusta Sophia. Her sponsors were the eldest 
Prince of Mecklenburg Strelitz ; the Duchesses of Ancaster 
and Northumberland were proxies for the Queen of Den- 
mark and the Princess of Brunswick. 

In 1770, Prince Edward and Augusta Sophia, his sister, 
were inoculated for the small-pox; the Princess was a year 
younger than her brother. In a few years more were 
added to the family group Augustus Adolphus, Mary and 
Sophia ; this last event happened in 1777, on the 3rd of 
November. Her Majesty was delivered at her palace of a 
Princess, who was baptized on the first of the following 
month at St. James's by the name of Sophia. 

Cooper had the honour to instruct the Queen and some 
of the Princesses. He had lived long at Rome, Florence, 
and other places in Italy, and copied the surrounding 
country in the neighbourhood of those cities ; he drew 
classic scenes in black chalk, heightened with white, in a 
peculiar style of richness and effect. 

Cipriani also gave some lessons ; and Gresse, his pupil, was 
appointed teacher to the Princesses, which distinguished 
office he held from the year 1777 to the period of his 
death in 1794. Gresse taught landscape and figure ; the 
style of his landscapes was in the early manner of Paul 
Sandby, correctly outlined with a pen and tinted with 
colours ; his figures were in the style of his master, drawn 
in chalks, and tinted with powder colours. 

The first appearance in public of Princess Sophia was at 
the great musical entertainment instituted in commemo- 
ration of Handel, and conducted under the patronage of 
her Royal parents. The design of this extraordinary 



80S THE UOTAL PRINCESSES. 

entertainment originated with some persons of distinction, 
who wished for a periodical celebration of that eminent 
master of harmony, in a public performance of his works, 
the proceeds of which were to be devoted to the musical 
fund. A temporary building was erected for the occasion 
in the west aisle of Westminster Abbey, large enough to 
receive four thousand persons. 

On Wednesday, the 26th of May, the great festival 
commenced, and the company assembled in numbers at an 
early hour. Their Majesties arrived about a quarter-past 
twelve o'clock ; and when the King entered the building 
he stood for some moments apparently lost in astonish- 
ment at the sublimity of the spectacle, nor was the Queen 
less affected by the brilliancy of the coup d'oeil, for she 
viewed it with admiration, and repeatedly expressed her 
gratification to those around her. The King and Queen 
were accompanied by Prince Edward and the Princess 
Eoyal, who sat on the King's right, and the Princesses 
Augusta, Elizabeth, and Sophia, who sat on the Queen's 
left hand. 

This splendid entertainment was followed by another 
performance at the Abbey on the 29th, at which their 
Majesties were attended by five of the Princesses, whose 
delight was continually manifested throughout the per- 
formance. 

The early years of the Princess Sophia were devoted to 
education, together with her younger sisters, and we find 
little else to record till the spring of 1789, when a splendid 
fete was held at Windsor by the Princess Royal. 

The King, on this occasion, wore the Windsor uniform, 
as also did the several gentlemen present, and the Queen 
and the Princesses did not differ from the general costume 
of the ladies, which consisted of " a dress of garter-blue 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AKD AMELIA. 309 

covered with white tiffany, which by candlelight had the 
appearance of purple. A plume of white feathers, plain 
or tipped with orange, gave style to the head-dress, which 
had a fine effect." 

The whole female circle also wore bandeaux, on which 
were the words, " God save the King," and some of the 
ladies had rich medallions of the Monarch set in pearls or 
diamonds. 

The Eoyal visit to Bulstrode, and the other localities 
visited by the King and Queen with their children, have 
already been noticed. In all these, Princess Augusta 
shared with the Princess Eoyal and Princess Elizabeth. 

One of the favourite resorts of the youthful Eoyal 
family was the house of Mrs. Delaney, in Windsor Park, 
where they not unfrequently enjoyed a merry romp, and 
subsequently a cup of tea. 

Mrs. Delaney writes : " I have been several evenings at 
the Queen's Lodge, with no other company but their own 
most lovely family. They sit round a large table, on 
which are books, work, pencils, and paper.. 

" The Queen has the goodness to make me sit down next 
to her, and delights me with her conversation, which is in- 
forming, elegant, and pleasing beyond description, whilst 
the younger part of the family are drawing and working, 
&c, &c. — the beautiful babe, Princess Amelia, bearing her 
part in the entertainment, sometimes playing with the 
King on the carpet, which, altogether, exhibits such a de- 
lightful scene as would require an Addison's pen or a Van- 
dyke's pencil to do justice to. In the next room is the band 
of music, who play from eight till ten. The King generally 
directs them what pieces of music to play — chiefly Handel's. 
Here I must stop, and return to my own house. Mr. 
Dewes, from Wellsbourn, came here on the 25th of Oc- 



310 THE ROYAL ritlNCESSES. 

tober ; on the 2Sth, their Majesties, five Princesses, and 
the youngest Princes, came at seven o'clock in the evening 
to drink tea with me. 

" All the Princesses and Princes had a commerce-table. 
Miss Emily Clayton, daughter to Lady Louisa Clayton, 
and Miss Port, did the honours of it. 

" It gave me a pleasing opportunity of introducing Mr. 
Dewes to their Majesties. The King took gracious notice 
of him ; and having heard that his youngest brother, Mr. 
John Dewes, wished to take the name of Granville, said to 
Mr. Dewes that he desired he might from that time be 
called by that name, and gave orders that his sign -manual 
should be prepared for that purpose, which has accordingly 
been done. 

"The want of franks cuts me short ; do me the justice, 
as usual, to all dear friends, and believe me ever, 
" Affectionately yours, 

"M. Delakey." 
# # # # * 

Of the Eoyal family, in another letter, the writer says — 
" At this time of the year the evenings are devoted by 
them to the Terrace till eight o'clock, when they return 
to the Lodge to their tea and concert of music. Happy 
are those who are admitted to that circle ! 

" The Queen has had the goodness to command me to 
come to the Lodge whenever it is quite easy to me to do 
it, without sending particularly for me, lest it should em- 
barrass me to refuse that honour ; so that most evenings, 
at half an hour past seven, I go to Miss Burney's apart- 
ment, and when the Eoyal family return from the Terrace, 
the King, or one of the Princesses (generally the youngest, 
Princess Amelia, just four years old), comes into the room, 
takes me by the hand, and leads me into the drawing-room, 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, A1S T D AMELIA. 311 

where there is a chair ready for me by the Queen's left 
hand ; the three eldest Princesses sit round the table, and 
the ladies in waiting, Lady Charlotte Finch and Lady 
Elizabeth Waldegrave. A vacant chair is left for the 
King, whenever he pleases to sit down in it. Every one 
is employed with pencil, needle, or knotting. Between 
the pieces of music the conversation is easy and pleasant ; 
and, for an hour before the conclusion of the whole, the 
King plays at backgammon with one of his equerries, and 
I am generally dismissed. I then go to Miss Burney's 
room again, where Miss Port generally spends the even- 
ings that I am at the Lodge, and has an opportunity of 
being in. very good company there." 

" On December 24th, 1785, Bishop Hurd confirmed 
Princess Augusta in the chapel of Windsor Castle : he 
preached in the chapel the next day, Christmas-day, and 
administered the sacrament to their Majesties and the 
Princess Boyal, and Princess Augusta. The Bishop 
preached also before their Majesties and Royal family 
in the chapel of Windsor Castle, and administered the 
sacrament to them on Christmas-day, 1786." # 

Amelia, the youngest of Queen Charlotte's daughters, 
was born on the 7th of August, 1783, and seems to have 
been the favourite and darling of all who surrounded her. 
If the brothers and sisters caressed, the Queen loved, and 
the King might be said to have adored the fairy child of his 
advanced years. When the hand of Amelia was placed in 
his by the doting mother, it seemed to touch the father's 
heart, and a look of that beaming eye the child possessed 
would bring a smile into his own. One who enjoyed 
many of those blessed opportunities of hovering in pre- 
sence of these fair scions of Boyalty, and observing 
* Nichols' " Literary Anecdotes." 



312 TIIE KOYAL PRINCESSES. 

those interesting points in their daily existence which less 
gifted individuals may so rarely be happy enough to 
attain, has left an account of the birthday of one of the 
Princesses (Amelia) kept at Windsor, when it was com- 
monly the custom of the Eoyal family to walk familiarly 
upon the Terrace, amidst crowds of fashionable visitors 
to that promenade. The passage alluded to is from Miss 
Burney's "Diary," who writes thus: — 

" It was really a mighty pretty procession. The little 
Princess, just turned three years old, in a robe-coat covered 
with fine muslin, a dressed close cap, white gloves, and a 
fan, walked on alone, and first, highly delighted in the 
parade, and turning from side to side to see everybody as 
she passed ; for all the terracers stand up against the walls 
to make a clear passage for the Royal family the moment 
they come in sight. Then follow the King and Queen, no 
less delighted themselves with the joy of their little 
darling. " # 

After the death of her Grace the Duchess Dowager of 
Portland, the King, Queen, and Princess Amelia were con- 
stant and regular in their inquiries after Mrs. Delaney's 
health. 

" On Saturday, the 3rd of this month, one of the 
Queen's messengers came, and brought me the following 
letter from her Majesty, written with her own hand : — 

" ' My dear Mrs. Delaney will be glad to hear that I am 
charged by the King to summon her to her new abode at 
Windsor, for Tuesday next, where she will find all the 
most essential parts of the house ready, excepting some 
little trifles, which it will be better for Mrs. Delaney to 
direct herself in person, or by her little deputy, Miss 
Port. I need not, I hope, add, that I shall be extremely 
* Miss Burney's " Diary." 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AND AMELIA. 318 

glad and Happy to see so amiable an inhabitant in this our 
sweet retreat ; and wish, very sincerely, that my dear 
Mrs. Delaney may enjoy every blessing amongst us that her 
merits deserve. That we may long enjoy her amiable 
company. Amen ! These are the true sentiments of, 
" 'My dear Mrs. Delaney' s 

" ' Very affectionate Queen, 

" ' Chaelotte. 
" { Queen's Lodge, Windsor, Sept. 3, 1785. 

" ' P.S. I must also beg that Mrs. Delaney will choose 
her own time of coming, as will best suit her own conve- 
nience.' 

" My Answer. 

" ' It is impossible to express how I am overwhelmed 
with your Majesty's excess of goodness to me. I shall, 
with the warmest duty and most humble respect, obey a 
command that bestows such honour and happiness on your 
Majesty's most dutiful and most obedient humble servant 
" c And subject, 

" ' Mary Delaney.' 

"I received the Queen's letter at dinner, and was 
obliged to answer it instantly with my own hand, without 
seeing a letter ' I wrote. I thank God I had strength 
enough to obey the gracious summons on the day ap- 
pointed. I arrived here about eight o'clock in the evening, 
and found his Majesty in the house ready to receive me, 
I threw myself at his feet, indeed unable to utter a word ; 
he raised and saluted me, and said he meant not to stay 
longer than to desire I would order everything that could 
make the house comfortable and agreeable to me, and 
then retired. 

" Truly I found nothing wanting, as it is as pleasant 
and commodious as I could wish it to be, with a very 



314 TIIE KOYAL PRINCESSES. 

pretty garden, whieli joins to that of the Queen's Lodge. 
The next morning her Majesty sent one of her ladies to 
know how I had rested, and how I was in health, and 
whether her coming would not be troublesome ? You 
may be sure I accepted the honour, and she came about 
two o'clock. I was lame, and could not go down, as 
I ought to have done, to the door ; but her Majesty came 
up-stairs, and I received her on my knees. Our meeting 
was mutually affecting ; she well knew the value of what 
I had lost ; and it was some time after we were seated (for 
she always makes me sit down,) before we could either of 
us speak. It is impossible for me to do justice to her 
great condescension and tenderness, which were almost 
equal to what I had lost. She repeated, in the strongest 
terms, her wish, and the King's, that I should be as easy 
and as happy as they could possibly make me ; that they 
waived all ceremony, and desired to come to me like 
friends. The Queen delivered me a paper from the King, 
which contained the first quarter of 300Z. per annum, 
which his Majesty allows me out of his privy purse. 
Their Majesties have drank tea with me five times, and 
the Princesses three. 

" They generally stay two hours, or longer. In short, 
I have either seen or heard from them every day. 

" I have not yet been at the Queen's Lodge, though 
they have expressed an impatience for me to come ; but I 
have still so sad a drawback upon my spirits, that I must 
decline the honour till I am better able to enjoy it, as 
they have the goodness not to press me. 

" Their visits here are paid in the most quiet, private 
manner, like those of the most consoling and interesting 
friends ; so that I may truly say they are a Royal cordial, 
and I see very few people besides. 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AND AMELIA. 315 

" They are very condescending in their notice of my 
niece, and think her a fine girl. She is delighted, as 
is very natural, with all the joys of the place. I have 
"been three times at the King's private chapel at early 
prayers, eight o'clock, where the Royal family constantly 
attend; and they walk home to breakfast afterwards, 
whilst I am conveyed in a very elegant new chair home, 
which the King has made me a present of for that 
purpose. 

" As to my health, it is surprisingly good, considering 
the sufferings of my agitated spirits ; and that I was 
hardly recovered, when I came, of a putrid sore throat and 
fever. How thankful ought I to be to Providence for the- 
wonderful blessings I have received ! How ungrateful 
must I be not to endeavour to resign those withdrawn 
from me as I ought to do ! It is a cordial comfort to me 
to receive a good account from you of your health and 
prosperity, and the rest of my dear friends who have so 
kindly felt for me. I cannot dictate a word more, but 
believe me unalterably and affectionately 

" Yours, 

"M. Delaket. 5 ' 

" I am sure you must be very sensible how thankful I am 
to Providence for the late wonderful escape of his Majesty 
from the stroke of assassination ; indeed, the horror that 
there was, a possibility that such an attempt would be made, 
shocked me so much at first, that I could hardly enjoy the 
blessing of such a preservation. The King would not 
suffer anybody to inform the Queen of that event till he 
could show himself in person to her. He returned to 
Windsor as soon as the Council was over. When his 
Majesty entered the Queen's dressing-room, he found her 



316 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

with the two eldest Princesses ; and, entering in an ani- 
mated manner, said, ' Here I am, safe and well !' The 
Queen suspected from this saying that some accident had 
happened, on which he informed her of the whole affair. 
The Queen stood struck and motionless for some time, till 
the Princesses burst into tears, in which she immediately- 
found relief by joining with them. Joy soon succeeded 
this agitation of mind, on the assurance that the person 
was insane that had the boldness to make the attack, 
which took off all aggravating suspicion ; and it has been 
the means of showing the whole kingdom that the King 
has the hearts of his subjects." 

" 1788. — This summer the King went to Cheltenham 
to drink the waters, and was attended by the Queen, the 
Princess Royal, and the Princesses Augusta and Elizabeth. 
They arrived at Cheltenham in the evening of Saturday, 
July 12th, and resided in a house of Earl Falconberg. From 
Cheltenham they made excursions to several places in 
Oloucestershire and Worcestershire, and were everywhere 
received with joy by all ranks of people. On Saturday, 
August 2nd, they were pleased to visit Hartlebury, at the 
distance of thirty-three miles or more. The Duke of York 
came from London to Cheltenham the day before, and was 
pleased to come with them. They arrived at Hartlebury 
at half-an-hour past eleven. Lord Courtown, Mr. Digby 
(the Queen's Yice-Chamberlain), Colonel Grwin (one of the 
King's Equerries), the Countesses of Harcourt and Cour- 
town, composed the suite. Their Majesties, after seeing 
the house, breakfasted in the library, and when they had 
reposed themselves some time, walked into the garden, and 
took several turns on the terraces, especially the Green 
Terrace in the Chapel Garden. Here they showed them- 
selves to an immense crowd of people, who nocked in 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AND AMELIA. 317 

from the neighbourhood, and standing on the rising 
grounds in the Park, saw, and were seen, to great ad- 
vantage. The day being extremely bright, the show was 
agreeable and striking. About two o'clock their Ma- 
jesties, &c, returned to Cheltenham. 

"On the Tuesday following, August 5th, their Ma- 
jesties, with the three Princesses, arrived at eight o'clock 
in the evening at the Bishop's Palace, in Worcester, to 
attend the charitable meeting of the three choirs of 
Worcester, Hereford, and Gloucester, for the benefit of 
the widows and orphans of the poorer clergy of those 
dioceses ; which had been fixed, in consequence of the 
announcement of the King's intention to honour that 
solemnity with his presence, for the 6th, 7th, and 8th of 
that month. 

" The next morning, a little before ten o'clock, the King 
was pleased to receive the compliments of the clergy. The 
Bishop, in the name of himself, Dean and Chapter, and 
Clergy of the Church and Diocese, addressed the King in 
the great hall, in a short speech, to which his Majesty was 
pleased to return a gracious answer. He had then the 
honour to address the Queen in a few words, to which a 
gracious reply was made ; and they had all the honour to 
kiss the King's and Queen's hands. 

" Soon after ten, the Corporation, by their Recorder, the 
Earl of Coventry, addressed and went through the same 
ceremony of kissing the King's hand. Then the King 
had a levee in the Great Hall, which lasted till eleven, 
when their Majesties, &c, walked through the court of 
the Palace to the cathedral, to attend Divine service, and 
a sermon. The apparitor-general, two sextons, two vergers, 
and eight beadsmen, walked before the King (as on great 
occasions they usually do before the Bishop) ; the Lord in 

X 



318 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Waiting (Earl of Oxford) on the King's right hand, and 
the Bishop, in his lawn, on the left. After the King came 
the Queen and Princesses, attended by the Countesses of 
Pembroke and Harcourt (Ladies of the Bedchamber), and 
the Countess of Courtown, and the rest of their suite. At 
the entrance of the cathedral their Majesties were received 
by the Dean and Chapter, in their surplices and hoods, and 
conducted to the foot of the stairs leading to their seat, in 
a gallery prepared and richly furnished by the stewards* 
for their use, at the bottom of the church, near the west 
window. 

" The same ceremony was observed the two following 
da}^s, on which they heard sacred music, but without 
prayers or a sermon. On the last day, August 8th, the 
King was pleased to give 2001. to the charity ; and in the 
evening attended a concert in the College Hall, for the 
benefit of the stewards. 

"On Saturday morning, August 9th., the King and 
Queen, &c, returned to Cheltenham. 

" During their Majesties' stay at the Palace they at- 
tended prayers in the chapel every morning (except the 
first, when the service was performed in the church), 
which were read by the Bishop. The King at parting 
was pleased to put into my hands for the poor of the 
city 50Z., and the Queen 501. more, which I desired the 
Mayor (Mr. Davis) to see distributed amongst them in 
a proper manner. The King also left 300Z. in my hands, 
towards releasing the debtors in the county and city 
gaols. 

" During the three days at Worcester, the concourse of 
people of all ranks was immense, and the joy universal. 

* Edward Foley, Esq., M.P. for the county, and William Lang- 
ford, D.D., Prebendary of Worcester. 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AND AMELIA. 319 

The weather was uncommonly fine, and no accident of 
any kind interrupted the mutual satisfaction which was 
given and received on this occasion. 

" On Saturday, August 16th, the King and Eoyal family 
left Cheltenham, and returned that evening to Windsor.* 

" In the beginning of November following, the King 
was seized with that illness which was so much lamented. 
It continued till the end of February, 1789, when his 
Majesty happily recovered. Soon after (says Bishop Hurd) 
I had his Majesty's command to attend him at Kew ; and 
on March 15th I administered the Sacrament to his 
Majesty at Windsor, in the Chapel of the Castle, as also on 
Easter Sunday, April 12th, and preached both days. 

"At the Sacrament of March 15 th, the King was attended 
only by three or four of his gentlemen. On Easter- day 
the Queen, Princess Royal, and Princesses Augusta and 
Elizabeth, with several lords and gentlemen and ladies of 
the Court, attended the King to the Chapel, and received 
the Sacrament with him. 

" On April 23rd (St. George's day) a public thanksgiving 
for the King's recovery was appointed. His Majesty, the 
Queen and Royal family, with the two Houses of Parlia- 
ment, &c., went in procession to St. Paul's. The Bishop 
of London preached. I was not well enough to be 
there."f 

Frogmore, the Queen's favourite residence, was cele- 
brated for the elegant fetes she gave there. 

The first fete at Frogmore was given by the Queen on 
the 19th of May, 1795, to commemorate her birthday. 
The second fete, on the 23rd of Ma} r , 1797, in honour of 
the marriage of the Princess Royal with the Duke of 
W r urtemberg. 

* Nichols' " Literary Anecdotes." f Ibid. 

x2 



320 THE ItOTAL PEINCESSES. 

The third fHe, on the 8th of March, 1799, for gratitude 
at the recovery of the Princess Amelia. 

The fourth and last fete, in commemoration of the 
happy escape of his Majesty from a pistol-shot, fired by a 
lunatic at Drury-lane Theatre, May 15th, 1800. 

The yellow bedroom, Frogmore, has in it whole-length 
portraits, small size, of the King and Queen, Princesses- 
Augusta, Elizabeth, Mary, Sophia, and Amelia. The 
Princess Dowager of Orange, &c. 

In the State bedroom is a portrait of the late Queen of 
Denmark, sister of his Majesty, painted in crayons, by 
Coates. Also a portrait of the Queen of Wurtemberg in 
crayons. 

In the Green Pavilion, Frogmore, are the portraits of 
the Eoyal Princes and Princesses, by Sir William Beechey* 
The portraits of the latter are of Augusta and Elizabeth ; 
they are three-quarters canvas portraits, and very excellent 
resemblances. This artist painted the likenesses of all the 
Princesses of the same size, which were exhibited at the 
Eoyal Academy at various times. Some of these, which 
may be reckoned, both for taste and feeling, amongst the 
finest works of his hand, justly raised his reputation, and 
procured him a tide of practice among the higher circles of 
females, who were emulous of sitting for their pictures to 
the author of these faithful resemblances of the daughters 
\)f his munificent patron, the King, from whom he re- 
ceived the honour of knighthood. These pictures arc 
duplicates, the originals were formerly in the collection at 
Carlton House, where they were placed in a style of novelty 
that might be adopted in other apartments with an equally 
pleasing effect. They occupied panels over the doors, and 
were enclosed in a flat and broad bordure of gilt carvings, 
elegantly designed. 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AND AMELIA. 321 

Tlie following Address was presented to their Majesties, 
on entering the yacht, at the fete given on hoard, at 
Weymouth, on the 29th of September, 1804, in honour 
of the birthday of her Hoyal Highness the Duchess of 
JVurtemberg. 

Spoken ly Mr. Elliston and Miss De Camp, in the 

characters of a Sailor and his Wife. 

{The Sailor breaks from his companions, and says to them,) 

I tell you I will speak, so stand aside, 

And let a suitor, who lias long defy'd 

His country's foes, for once approach his King, 

The humble tribute of respect to bring. 

He ! God preserve him, loves an English tar, 

Nurs'd amid tempests and the din of war ; 

And hears, well pleas'd, an honest tongue impart 

The plain effusions of a single heart. 

{Turning to the King.) 
Then trust me, Sir, there's not a bosom here, 
Nor one that breathes a thought to Britons dear, 
Which does not feel the gen'rous glow of pride 
To see his friend, his Monarch by his* side. 
Ah ! could you but conceive the general grief, 
The look, which mock'd all comforts' cold relief, 
Whene'er a transient cloud of illness spread 
Its chilling vapour o'er your honour'd head, 
I need not now proclaim your subjects' joy, 
Most marked by what we felt, when fear's alloy- 
To ev'ry fond anxiety gave birth, 
" And taught the value of our jewel's worth."* 
If thus your people feel, what tongues can tell 
The rapt'rous joy that must the bosom swell, 
Of those who add, to ties like ours, the call 
Which Nature's sympathies impress on all, 
Whether they feel a Monarch's sceptr'd lot, 
Or dwell the peasant of the poorest cot ; 
But chiefly her's, who, in a foreign land, 
Far from her father, and his shelt'ring hand, 
* Cowper's " Task." 



322 THE EOTAL PEINCESSES. 

In absence felt that doubled cause of woe, 
Which all who taste suspense too keenly know ; 
Who now, perhaps, the while her health goes round,. 
And the deck echoes to the festive sound, 
In fond imagination views the scene, 
And sighs to think what barriers intervene 
To stop the thanks that hang upon her tongue, 
Intent on him from whom her being sprung. 
" Oh! may he live," she cries, with mingled tears, 
11 Longer than I have time to tell his years ;* 
And, while the dews of sleep his brows o'erspread, 
May all good angels guard his nightly bed." 

{Sailor s Wife interrupts the Sailor.) 
My worthy friend, have you forgot the fame 
Of old St. Michael, of goose-killing name ? 
How, ev'ry year, on this auspicious day 
Our vows to him with grateful teeth we pay, 
When cackling animals by instinct feel 
A sort of tremor through the bosom steal ? 
You surely have ; but pr'ythee say no more, 
For, if you are not mute, I must implore 
My Sovereign himself his aid to lend. 
He, to all just prerogative the friend, 
Will never see a female, fair and young, 
Kobb'd of her best prerogative — her tongue. 
And now, forsooth, when ladies ride a race, 
And vie with men in ev'ry manly grace ; 
Oh ! could our grandmothers on earth arise, 
How would such thoughts astound their wond'ring eyes ! 
They, who the Decalogue in cross-stitch wrought, 
Or good morality in samplers taught, 
Who never rode but on some festive day, 
When behind John, upon a long-tail'd grey, 
Strapp'd to a modest pillion's sober side, 
My good aunt Deborah came out a bride, 
She a long-waisted Joseph proudly wore, 
And on her head an ample bonnet bore. 
What would she say to see the modern maid, 
With jockey sleeves and velvet cap array'd, 

* Shakspeare's Henry VIII. 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AKD AMELIA. 323 

Dashing through thick and thin to win the post, 
And swearing when she finds her wishes cross'd ! 
But how can I one thought to censure give, 
When here, collected in this vessel, live 
Whatever virtues dignify our kind, 
Or stamp with excellence the female mind ! 
Here the soft maid, whose plighted vow is past 
To him she fondly loves, with whom at last 
She hopes to reach her happiest hours of life, 
May read each duty which adorns a wife, 

( Turning to the Queen.) 
Eeflected from the throne, where rank and birth 
Shed the soft lustre of domestic worth ; 
Or would a daughter's heart inquire the way 
How best she may a parent's care repay. 

(Turning to the Princesses.) 
Believe me, ladies, when I turn to you, 
To pay the tribute to your virtues due, 
I am no actress here, if from its lid 
The tear of admiration start unhid. 
There are rewards a King may call his own, 
Brighter than all the jewels of his throne, 
Bought by a life in deeds of virtue spent, 
Which, firm as adamant, on Heaven intent, 
Was never from its course of duty bent. 
Forgive my tongue thus prattling out of time, 
Like sweet bells jingling on immeasured chime ; 
Since 'tis the fulness of my joy that speaks, 
The heart thro' forms of ceremony breaks ; 
For who can see a King those virtues blend, 
Which deck the father, monarch, and the friend, 
And not, by Nature's magic sympathy, 
Becall at once some fond congenial tie ? 
Then trust me, Sir, henceforth, when tempests roar^ 
And the winds whistle through my cottage door, 
While in my solitary bed I'm laid, 
And fears for Tom my anxious soul invade, 
The thought that 'tis for you my sailor braves 
The battle's danger, and the stormy waves, 
Shall make my heart with patriot ardour burn, 
And. hope anticipate his glad return. 



32-1 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

So now, farewell ; but oh, may all, next year, 
Again with merry hearts assemble here, 
Once more to view their happy Sovereign prove 
His Queen's, his children's, and his people's love ! 

On the occasion of entering the fiftieth year of his 
reign, the King attended divine service in the morning 
between eight and nine o'clock, accompanied by the 
Queen, Princess Elizabeth, and the Dukes of York and 
Sussex ; after which the Queen and Princess proceeded to 
Frogmore, where a triumphal arch had been raised, to 
inspect the preparations for a complimentary/efe in honour 
of the occasion. An ox roasted whole, by the Queen's 
order, in Bachelor's Acre, was viewed by the whole Royal 
family, except the King and Princess of Wales, who were 
not present ; and at one a Royal salute of fifty guns was 
discharged from a grove in Windsor Park. 

The King took his customary walks on the terrace at 
Windsor, in 1810, at seven o'clock, when a small door in 
one of the towers, leading to the terrace, was thrown open, 
and the venerable Monarch appeared, led by two attendants 
down a flight of steps, until he descended to the walk. 
He was then generally taken by each arm by the Prin- 
cesses Augusta and Elizabeth, who paced with him on the 
terrace for about an hour, two bands of music being always 
in attendance, and playing alternately. His Majesty's 
usual dress upon these occasions was a blue coat and gilt 
buttons ; the rest of his apparel white, with gold buckles, 
and the star of the Eoyal Order of the Garter. His hat, 
in order to shade his face, was of the clerical form, but 
ornamented with a cockade, and gold button and loop. 

The childhood and youth of Princess Amelia were marked 
by great vivacity of character, though her health was deli- 
cate ; she possessed good talents, and,what is rarely conjoined 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AND AMELIA. 325 

with delicate health, a uniform sweetness of temper. 
Alas ! for the blight so soon to fall on this fair blossom ! 
The disease which ^eventually deprived her of existence 
was of a glandular nature, and even in the incipient state, 
the cause of considerable suffering. Sea-air, bathing, 
every human means was tried, to alleviate, if not restore 
the health, slowly yet gradually declining, and yet scarcely 
any hope was to be drawn of eventual improvement. 
Early in the year 1810 the symptoms became more 
alarming, and baffled medical skill. The periodical attacks 
became of a more aggravated character, and in the com- 
mencement of the autumn the Eoyal sufferer had a violent 
one of St. Anthony's fire, which reduced her to a very low 
condition, and it seemed as if even then nothing could 
avert her approaching doom. 

The fortitude, faith, and resignation evinced by Amelia 
throughout her protracted illness were worthy of her exalted 
rank, of her sex— and more, it was worthy of the Christian 
character. Many an idolatress has met death as firmly — 
face to face ; but there is beauty, heavenly beauty, in the 
picture, when leagued with Christian grace. 

While thus the daughter of England laid on her couch 
in expectation of the approach of that "King of Terrors" 
who could not inspire her with fear, there was one indeed 
who watched over, who caught each breath, every sigh 
that escaped the dying sufferer ; that one was the King — 
the still doating, ever-loving father — who clung no more 
to the hope which had been forced to give way before the 
prospect so inevitable of being parted for ever from the 
darling of his heart — his youngest-born, his idol! It 
was his only consolation to attend upon his child, and 
to administer to her the comfort which religion alone 
could provide, though in so doing he was harrowed to 



326 THE KOYAL PRINCESSES. 

behold her anguish in suffering pains for which no cure 
existed. One who closely attended on the sick couch of 
Amelia described the interviews between the Boyal patient 
and her father — which never failed to turn on the all- 
important future, from which consolation was to be gained 
— as singularly affecting. On one occasion, "My dear 
child," said the King, " you have ever been a good child to 
your parents ; we have nothing wherewith to reproach you ; 
but I need not tell you, that it is not of yourself alone 
you can be saved ; and that your acceptance with God must 
depend on your faith and trust in the merits of the 
Redeemer." " I know it," replied the Princess, mildly 
but emphatically, " and I would wish for no better trust." 
As for the Queen — the mother, who had from first to 
last proved her tenderness for her offspring — it was her 
sad task to behold at once the affliction of her husband, and 
the fatal and acute sufferings of her child, between both 
of whom her cares at that awful moment were divided. 
The whole family was oppressed with grief — no hope re- 
mained ; and each alike anticipated with dread the moment 
of separation, which, in robbing them of this loved rela- 
tive, would at least afford release from pain to herself. 
The following was written by Amelia at this crisis : — 

" Unthinking, idle, wild, and young, 
I laugh'd, I danc'd, and talk'd, and sung ; 
And proud of health, of freedom vain, 
Dream'cl not of sorrow, care, or pain ; 
Concluding, in those hours of glee, 
That all the world was made for me. 
But when the hour of trial came, 
When sickness shook this trembling frame, 
When folly's gay pursuits were o'er, 
And I could dance and sing no more, 
It then occurr'd how sad 't would be, 
Were this world only made for me." 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AND AMELIA. 327 

It had been the desire of Amelia to present a parting 
gift to this beloved father, as a token of her filial duty 
and affection. By the orders she gave shortly before her 
death, a ring was made containing a small lock of her hair 
enclosed under a crystal tablet, set round with a few 
sparks of diamonds. Having received this memento of 
regard when completed, she held it in her hand at the 
time of her father's accustomed visit, and then placed it 
herself on his finger, saying as she did so, " Take this 
token to remember me !" The look given as she bestowed 
the ring, the sad spectacle of those fine yet pallid features 
lighted up by filial affection, speaking as if from the tomb, 
was too much for the heart to bear — the shock was electric — 
the poor King withdrew from the apartment, and never en- 
tered it more. As for Amelia, her anxious wish gratified, she 
resigned herself submissively to the destiny which awaited 
her, and in a few days expired without knowing even that 
her father was ill, and that by her innocent endearments 
she had brought about a return of his mental malady. 

Amelia's death occurred on the 2nd of November, 1810, 
about twelve ; her strength having worn rapidly away 
towards the last, she expired without the least convulsive 
motion, as one dropping insensibly and calmly into a 
gentle sleep. 

The last mortal remains of Amelia were privately con- 
signed to the tomb in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on 
the night of the 14th of November. During the whole 
of the day appointed for the funeral every shop in Windsor 
and Eton was closed, in respect to the early deceased and 
much lamented Princess ; nor was an individual to be seen 
in the streets except in the deepest mourning — a mourn- 
ing evidently assumed from the heart. 

The funeral ceremony took place by torchlight. The 



32S THE BOYAL PRINCESSES. 

Duke of Clarence, who supported the Prince of Wales on 
the left, as the Duke of York did on the right, during the 
service was observed to shed tears, as indeed did all the 
family and spectators of the mournful scene. The state 
to which it was known the King had been brought by this 
affliction increased the general feeling of sadness. 

The will of the departed Princess directed that all her , 
jewels should be sold for the payment of what she owed, 
and the discharge of a few bequests ; but the Prince of 
Wales, who was left residuary legatee, gave the whole of 
the property to the Princess Mary, who had unceasingly 
watched over the dying bed of her sister, she having taken 
upon herself the responsibility of settling all the claims. 

An affecting testimony to the exalted merits of Amelia 
was given bv" her favourite attendant Miss Gaskoin, whose 
excessive sorrow for the loss of her beloved mistress was 
such, that very shortly after she followed her to the tomb. 
By orders of his Majesty, who highly respected this excel- 
lent young lady, her remains were deposited as near as 
possible to the Royal vault, and a marble tablet was placed 
•on the right hand aisle of St. George's Chapel, with the 
following inscription : — 

KING GEORGE III. 

CAUSED TO BE INTERRED NEAR THIS PLACE 

THE BODY OF MARY GASKOIN, 

SERVANT TO THE LATE PRINCESS AMELIA: 

AND THIS STONE 

TO BE INSCRIBED IN TESTIMONY OF HIS GRATEFUL SENSE OF THE 

FAITHFUL SERVICE AND ATTACHMENT 

OF AN AMIABLE YQUNG WOMAN TO HIS BELOVED DAUGHTER, 

WHOM SHE SURVIVED ONLY THREE MONTHS. 

SHE DIED THE 19TH OF FEBRUARY, 1811. 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AND AMELIA. 323 

Queen Charlotte died at Kew Palace on Tuesday, No- 
vember 17th, 1818, in the seventy-fifth year of her age. 
On the 2nd of December she was interred in the Royal 
Chapel of St. George, at Windsor, with every regal 
solemnity. 

During her Majesty's Queen Charlotte's last illness, 
a new and very pleasant walk was formed in Kew Gardens, 
under the direction of the Princess Augusta and the 
Duchess of Gloucester, along the terrace bordering on the 
Thames opposite to Sion House, at Isleworth, which, in 
conjunction with the animated scenery of the river, affords 
a fine prospect. 

By her Majesty's will, in which allusion was made to 
the handsome provision which had already been made for 
the Queen of Wurtemberg, she gives the jewels presented 
to her by the Nabob of Arcot to her four remaining 
daughters, directing those jewels to be sold, and the pro- 
duce divided amongst them, subject to the discharge of 
debts, &c. The remaining jewels (purchased by herself, 
or given to her on birthdays and other occasions) she 
bestowed equally among the four daughters just mentioned, 
to be divided according to a valuation to be made of 
them. 

The house and ground at Frogmore, and the Stowe 
establishment, her Majesty gives to the Princess Augusta 
Sophia ; but if she should find living in it and keeping it 
up too expensive, it is directed to revert to the Crown, 
upon a valuation being made and given for it to the 
Princess Augusta Sophia, with due consideration to the 
improvements, whether it shall please the Prince Regent 
to reserve the possession of it as an appendage to Windsor 
Castle, or to authorize any other disposal of it. 

Her Majesty gives the fixtures, articles of common 



330 TI1E ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

household furniture, and live and dead stock in the house 
at Frogmore, or on the estates, to her daughter Augusta 
Sophia. 

She gives the real estate in New Windsor, purchased 
of the late Duke of St. Al ban's, and commonly called 
the Lower Lodge, with its appendages, to her youngest 
daughter Sophia. 

Her hooks, plate, house-linen, china, pictures, drawings, 
prints, all articles of ornamental furniture, and all other 
valuables and personals, she directs to be divided in equal 
shares, according to a valuation to be made, amongst her 
four younger daughters. 

Lord Arden and General Taylor were appointed trustees 
by her Majesty for the property bequeathed to her daugh- 
ters Elizabeth and Mary ; stating that property to be left 
to them for their sole benefit, and independent of any 
husbands they have or may have ; and she also appointed 
Lord Arden and General Taylor her executors. 

The will bears date November 16, 1818 (the day before 
her Majesty's death). 

The state of the aged King's health spared him the 
pang of hearing the funeral arrangements of his beloved 
consort, or knowing either of the death of his grand- 
daughter, Princess Charlotte, or his son, the Duke of Kent. 
He passed from this world in a state of enviable un- 
consciousness of these bereavements in 1820. At the 
moment of his death, besides the usual attendants, there 
were present in the room the Duke of York, Lord Hen- 
ley, Lord Winchelsea, all the physicians, and General 
Taylor. In the Palace were the Duchess of Gloucester 
and the Princesses Augusta and Sophia, all of whom 
had been most unremitting in their attentions. 

Neither Princess Augusta Sophia, or her sister 



AUGUSTA SOPHIA, SOPHIA, AND AMELIA. 331 

Princess Sophia, ever married. Their Royal Highnesses 
severally enjoyed an income from the State of 13,000/,, as 
arranged in 1812 ; previously to which they had 4000 1. 
from the Civil List, and 6000Z. from a Parliamentary 
grant (increased from 5000Z. in 1806). During the un- 
happy differences which existed between Greorge IV. and 
Queen Caroline, the Princess Augusta was called upon 
to preside with his Majesty at the levees and drawing- 
rooms. On one occasion, when a certain lady held 
immense influence over Greorge IV., during the latter part 
of his reign, that King having invited Princess Augusta 
to come and dine with him, her Eoyal Highness asked if 

Lady was to be there, and on receiving a reply in 

the affirmative, begged to decline. The King pressed 
the matter very much, when the Princess said, " If you 
command my attendance as King, I will obey you ; but 
if you ask me as a brother to come, nothing will induce 
me." His Majesty said no more. 

Princess Augusta died at Clarence House, St. James's, 
September 22nd, 1840, in her seventy-second year. The 
sweet temper and amiable disposition of her Eoyal High- 
ness, both in childhood and after life, made her at all times 
a favourite with the various branches of the Po} T al family. 
Her amiability and goodness of heart cannot be too highly 
commended. " Her benevolence has been extended to all 
around her. Her left hand knew not what her right gave 
away, and never was her charity marred by ostentation on 
the part of the giver." Among other noble deeds, she 
established in Windsor an annuity of 300Z. for the benefit 
of poor soldiers' wives and children. To her honour be 
it observed, that with these repeated acts of munificence 
she died poor, and is said to have left no will : Clarence 
House and Progmore reverting to the Princess Sophia, 



332 THE ROYAL PHIXCESSES. 

her sister, which are now occupied by her Eoyal High- 
ness the Duchess of Kent. 

Before her death Princess Augusta sent tokens of 
remembrance to all the branches of the Eoyal family, and 
within a few weeks of the termination of her illness pre- 
sented all her domestics, who were much attached to her, 
with a copy of her portrait, drawn by E. J. Lan3, A.E.A., 
from a miniature by W. C. Eoss, A.E.A. 

Her illness was endured with pious resignation, and the 
intervals of suffering devoted to religious duties. Her last 
moments were attended by the Queen Dowager, the Duchess 
of Gloucester, the Princess Sophia, the Duke of Sussex, and 
the Duke of Cambridge. 

After her decease, the remains of this Eoyal Princess 
were removed from St. James's Palace to her house at 
Frogmore, where the following day they lay in State, 
between eleven and four o'clock, attended by the ladies, and 
others of her late Eoyal Highness's household, and officers 
of arms. In the evening of Friday, the 2nd of October, 
they were interred with every regal solemnity in St. 
George's Chapel, Windsor. 

The Princess Sophia always enjoyed the highest respect 
from the amiability of her character and her benevolence 
to her dependents and the poor. In consequence of her 
bad state of health she had for some years lived in 
great retirement. She died at her residence near Kensing- 
ton church, in her seventy-first year, and was buried at 
Kensal Green. 



333 



ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND, 

LANDGRAVINE OF HESSE HOMBURG, THIRD DAUGHTER 
OF GEORGE III. 

Birth of Elizabeth — Poetical effusion of Queen Charlotte — Address 
from the City of London — Awkward predicament in which the 
Lord Mayor was placed — The Royal Christening — Sponsors — 
Pleasing character of Elizabeth — Her talents of a very high order 
— Her letter to the Queen — Several instances of her taste in the 
ornamental arts — The Hermitage at Frogmore — Pension of the 
Princess — Becomes acquainted with the Prince of Hesse Homburg 
— Goes to Bath with Queen Charlotte — Death of Princess Charlotte 
of Wales — Elizabeth returns to Windsor with the Queen — Prince 
Regent introduces the Prince of Hesse Homburg to his mother and 
sisters — Marriage — Queen taken ill — Departure of the Princess 
—Death of Queen Charlotte — Her will — Division of her property 
among her daughters — Death of her husband — She has no children 
by him — Duke of Clarence visits Hesse Homburg — Interest taken 
by Princess Elizabeth in the fate of Sophia Dorothea of Zell. 

The Princess Elizabeth, destined in after years to become 
Landgravine of Hesse Homburg, was the third daughter 
of George III. and Queen Charlotte, and is generally con- 
sidered to have been her mother's favourite child. She 
was born on the 22nd of May, 1770, between eight and 
nine o'clock a.m. ; the Princess Dowager of Wales, the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, several lords of the Privy 
Council, and the ladies of her Majesty's bedchamber, being 
present on the occasion. The Queen, being thus prevented 
from appearing in public on the ensuing birthday, pre- 

z 



331< THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

sentecl her beloved consort with the following stanzas,, 
written with her own hand in pencil: — 

When monarchs give a grace to fate, 

And rise as princes shou'd, 
Less highly born than truly great, 

Less dignified than good — 

What joy the natal day can bring, 

From whence our hopes began, 
Which gave the nation such a king, 

And being, such a man ! 

The sacred Source of endless pow'r 

Delighted sees him born, 
And kindly marks the circling hour 

That spoke him into morn ; 

Beholds him with the kindest eye 

Which goodness can bestow ; 
And shows a brighter crown on high 

Than e'er he wore below. 

The lines have not perhaps much poetical merit, though 
the effusion of a crowned Queen ; but they possess that 
sterling beauty which attests the happy feeling existing 
between the Koyal pair, and mark the birth of Elizabeth, 
one of the most intellectual and highly gifted of the 
children born of their happy union. 

This was not the only incident which attended the 
period at which the infant Princess was ushered into the 
world. The one I am about to relate was more singular 
in its character. 

The interference of the City of London in political affairs 
at the crisis in American circumstances which occurred 
at this date, is noticed in the inscription of the statue of 
Beckford in Guildhall. A week after the birth of the 
Eoyal infant, an address of congratulation was presented 
from the City of London to his Majesty. There are some 



ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND. 335 

curious anecdotes about this affair, which state that, on the 
30th of May, the Lord Mayor and Corporation set out for 
St. James's, with a complimentary address on the Queen's 
safe delivery of the Princess ; and only the chief magistrate 
and three of the aldermen had passed through Temple-bar, 
when the mob shut the gates against Mr. Alderman 
Harley, whom they not only pelted with stones and dirt, 
but actually pulled out of his carriage, and it was with diffi- 
culty that he saved his life by escaping into the Sun tavern. 
The Lord Mayor, finding his train thus unexpectedly short- 
ened, and having ascertained the cause, sent back the City 
Marshal to open the gate, when the remainder of the pro- 
cession passed through, and shortly after arrived at the 
Palace. After waiting a considerable time in the ante- 
chamber, the Lord Chamberlain came out and read a paper 
to the following purport : — " As your lordship thought fit 
to speak to his Majesty after his answer to the late remon- 
strance, I am to acquaint your lordship, as it was unusual, 
his Majesty desires that nothing of this kind may happen 
for the future." The Lord Mayor then desired that the 
paper might be handed to him ; but the Lord Chamber- 
lain refused, saying that he acted officially, and had it not 
in orders to deliver the paper. The Lord Mayor then 
desired a copy; to which the Chamberlain answered, that 
he would acquaint his Majesty, and take his directions, 
but did not return until the order was brought for the 
whole Court to attend with the address. In the interim, 
while waiting for the introduction, a curious scene ensued. 
The father of the City, Sir Eobert Ladbroke, complained 
to the Mayor that stones had been thrown at his coach. 
Beckibrd called up Gates, the City Marshal, face to face 
with the venerable alderman, and asked him if it was so. 
The Marshal denied the fact ; when Ladbroke said that, if 
z2 



336 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

not stones, certainly dirt had been thrown. But this 
Beckford rebutted with the assertion, that there was no 
dirt in the street (happy days for the City of London!) ; 
when Sir Robert qualified his complaint by observing that 
the mob spit in the windows of his carriage. 

On arriving in the presence-chamber, Mr. Rigby 
attacked the Lord Mayor, telling him that, although he 
had promised to be answerable for the peace of the City, 
yet he had been informed by Sir Robert Ladbroke that 
there had been a great riot there, which he, Beckford, had 
taken no pains to quell. To which the Mayor replied, 
that he should be ready to answer for his conduct at all 
times, in ail places, and on every proper occasion. After 
some further altercation, Rigby again said that the City 
magistrates had been mobbed ; to which Mr. Sheriff 
Townsend replied, that taking the whole together, in his 
opinion, the people had been mobbed by the magistrates, 
and not the magistrates by the people. 

His Majesty soon after entered, and the address was 
presented agreeably to the usual form; his Majesty saying, 
in his answer — " The City of London, entertaining these 
loyal sentiments, may be always assured of my protection." 

On the 17th of June, the young Princess was christened 
in the great council-chamber by the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, when she was named Elizabeth : one of the sponsors 
being the Hereditary Prince of Hesse Cassel, who was re- 
presented by the Earl of Hertford, Lord Chamberlain of 
his Majesty's household. Her godmothers were the Prin- 
cess Royal of Sweden, and the Princess of Nassau- Wielburg; 
the former represented by the Countess of Holdernesse, 
the latter by the Countess Dowager of Effingham. 

In her childhood, Elizabeth is said to have been lively, 
intelligent, and remarkably beautiful ; on reaching matu- 



ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND. 337 

rity, she became an elegant, agreeable, and accomplished 
worn an. # 

Educated with her Royal sisters, by the best of masters, 
and superintended personally by the careful and judicious 
Charlotte in all her pursuits, no wonder that Elizabeth dis- 
tinguished herself in after years for her highly-cultivated 
talents and superior taste. In her pursuits she appears to 
have been original, and to have had a more than common 
regard for the arts. It was the Princess Elizabeth who, 
with inborn genius of her own, designed and etched a 
series of twenty-four plates, representing " The Progress 
of Genius," which display great taste and fancy, and were 
designed as presents for the select and particular friends 
of her Royal Highness. 

The Princess Elizabeth has afforded some other original 
works, by which her talent for invention may be estimated ; 
but the folio volume at Frogmore, entitled, " A Series of 
Etchings, representing the Power and Progress of Grenius," 
and dedicated to the Queen, exhibits a knowledge of com- 
position in the classic style highly creditable to the Prin- 
cess's talents. Some of the groups are particularly well 
conceived, and elegantly disposed. These designs are 
etched by her own hand, in a loose manner, but with 
rather too much of the air of an amateur, and the extremi- 

* On the 18th of June, 1798, a little incident, startling doubtless at 
the time, occurred to Princess Elizabeth. A woman, attired in deep 
mourning, had waited some time at the garden gate of St. James's, 
anxiously hoping to present a petition. Being prevented by the 
officers on guard from approaching near enough, she retired to some 
distance from the place, and threw a petition into his Majesty's coach, 
which fell into the lap of the Princess Elizabeth. She said she had 
lost her husband on board the Queen, in the West Indies ; that one 
of her sons, a lieutenant, had been murdered by the crew of the 
Hermione; that another had fallen in action, while serving on board 
the Leviathan; and that she was reduced to great distress. 



33S THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

ties are undefined ; yet they display a capacity that would 
have been happily bestowed upon any lady who, reduced 
by misfortune, might nobly seek the means of rising again 
by the exertion of her abilities. The dedication was as 
follows : — 

" The etchings which are now laid at your Majesty's 
feet would never have been executed, if many of those 
who looked over the drawings had not wished them to be 
published; but that, my dearest mother, you will see, 
was impossible, for it would have opened a door to much 
criticism, which in every situation is unpleasant, but par- 
ticularly in ours. I therefore undertook to do them 
myself, as they might then pass unnoticed, and protected 
in the pleasantest manner to me by one whose affection 
would kindly pardon the faults of the head of the inventor. 
I trust those of the heart will never be known by you, 
as its first wish has ever been to prove grateful for those 
talents which you have so tenderly fostered and improved; 
and if they meet the approbation of those friends who 
will have them, believe me I shall feel that the merit 
will be less mine than yours, who have occasioned them 
to be brought forward. 

" I remain, with the greatest respect, 

" Your dutiful and affectionate Daughter, 

" Elizabeth." 

A series of prints, entitled, " The Birth and Triumph of 
Cupid," have also been engraved from the beautiful designs 
of this Princess, which were executed with much delicacy, 
taste, and correctness of drawing. 

The application of the Princesses was no less remarkable 
than their ingenuity. The ornamental painting on the 



ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND. 339 

walls, and other embellishments at Frogmore, and at the 
Queen's Lodge, were executed with a constancy of labour 
and diligence that surmounted difficulties which would 
have deterred many who live by professing for gain, what 
the Princesses of England thus pursued for amusement ; 
who often, even in summer, obeyed the willing summons 
to labour in the song of the lark. 

The walls of the Princess Royal's closet, at Frogmore, 
were painted in imitation of rich japan by her Royal 
Highness Princess Elizabeth ; the furniture was orna- 
mented by the same tasteful hand. 

In the bow drawing-room, Frogmore, is a picture of 
Mr. Perceval, painted by Mr. Joseph ; the Queen, attended 
by some of the Princesses, went to see it when finished. 
On the painter withdrawing the curtain which covered the 
frame, her Majesty was so struck with the fidelity of the 
likeness that she burst into tears. The same apartment 
contains several pictures of the Royal children when 
young ; among them that of Princess Elizabeth when a 
child. 

The Hermitage at Frogmore, the Queen's favourite 
residence, which was a small circular thatched building, 
situated in the corner of the garden, and completely em- 
bowered with lofty trees, was constructed from a drawing 
of the Princess Elizabeth, who had arrived at extra- 
ordinary excellence in the art through her talents and 
application. The surrounding scenery is judiciously con- 
trived so as to assimilate with the character of the place, 
the view of every distant object being excluded by trees 
and underwood. 

It may be further mentioned, that the room on the north 
side of the Castle at Windsor, next the Terrace, in which 
his Majesty was accustomed to sleep (1805), and which 



340 THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

is said to have been " not carpeted,'' was furnished " partly 
in a modern style, under the tasteful direction of the Prin- 
cess Elizabeth." 

The pension of the Princess Elizabeth was, in the year 
ISIS, 4000Z. ; in 1819 her allowance was 9000Z., and 
afterwards 4000/., the same as her other unmarried 
sisters. 

Queen Charlotte visited Bath in 1817, in company with 
her daughter Elizabeth, and took up her abode at a 
spacious house in Sydney-place. A general illumination 
greeted the Eoyal guests. 

The object of her Majesty was to try the efficacy of the 
celebrated Bath waters ; but her visit was abruptly 
brought to a close by one of the most painfully-affecting 
circumstances in our national records, the sudden and 
premature death of her beloved grand-daughter, Charlotte, 
Princess of Wales, then in the prime of youth and beauty. 
The event occurred on the 6th of November ; on the 8th 
the Queen and her daughter quitted Bath for Windsor. 

The marriage of the Princess Elizabeth with Philip 
Augustus Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Hesse Homburg, 
tock nkpe at the Queen's house, April 7th, 1818 ; the ac- 
quaintance between the Princess and her future husband 
had commenced two years previously, during which interval 
a correspondence had been maintained between them. 

On the arrival of the Prince of Hesse Homburg he visited 
the Queen at her residence, and was by the Prince Regent 
introduced to his intended bride, and at the same time tc* 
her Majesty, Princess Augusta, and the Duchess of Glou- 
cester, who had arrived from Gloucester House for that 
purpose. His Serene Highness met with a most gracious 
reception from all these Boyal personages, and, after a visit 
of an hour and a half, left the Palace with the Prince 



ELIZABETH OE ENGLAND. 341 

Regent. Apartments in St. James's were subsequently 
provided for his accommodation while in England. 

On this auspicious occasion, cards of invitation were is- 
sued, between two or three weeks prior to the event, to the 
foreign Ambassadors and Ministers, to their ladies, to 
the Lord Chancellor, the Cabinet Ministers and their 
ladies, the Deputy Earl Marshal of England, the great 
Officers of State and the Household, the King's, the Queen's, 
those of the Windsor establishment, the suites of the 
Royal Dukes and Duchesses, the Lord Chief Justice of the 
Court of King's Bench, and other distinguished characters 
who were to perform and assist at the solemnization of 
the marriage ceremony. 

A great profusion of wedding-cakes were in preparation 
for several weeks before. 

It was said that the Princess Elizabeth of Hesse Hom- 
burg's absence from the death-bed of her aged mother was 
caused by some difference which had arisen between them. 
She had ever been the Queen's favourite daughter ; and 
the Times, alluding to the circumstance of her having 
married and taken her leave in the midst of an illness 
which it was pronounced must shortly bring her mother to 
the grave, stated that it might perhaps have been owing to 
the express injunctions of her Majesty. It was afterwards 
ascertained that a reconciliation had taken place between 
the mother and daughter, prior to the departure of the 
latter for her future home. 

The parting of Queen Charlotte with this beloved child, 
to whom she had been so strongly attached, took place at 
Buckingham House on the morning of the 3rd of June, 
1818, and is described as having been particularly affecting 
to both parties — so much so, as to render a possibility of 
the shock proving fatal to her Majesty. In case of any 



312 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

change for the worse taking place, it was stipulated that 
the Princess should return immediately — a sufficient con- 
futation of any surmises as to her unfilial feelings at the 
time. The Prince and Princess, with this understanding, 
set off for Brighton, where they remained a week, at the 
end of which time, the accounts of the Queen's health 
continuing so far favourable as to dismiss any idea of 
immediate danger, they left Brighton for Dover, where 
they embarked, and landed at Calais, from whence they 
proceeded to Frankfort, by way of Brussels. 

In the following September, the temporary recovery of 
the Queen w^as much aided by the arrival of General 
Campbell with letters from the Princess of Homburg. 

1S22. — The Duke of Clarence, with a view to the im- 
provement of his health, visited the Continent. Of his 
tour, Dr. Beattie, his travelling physician, gives an in- 
teresting account. From his Journal, the following extract 
is selected : — 

" Frankfort, 10th July. — On arriving here, their Hoyal 
Highnesses were received by the Landgrave and Land- 
gravine of Hesse Homburg, the Landgrave of Hesse, 
&c. A sumptuous entertainment was prepared at the 
Weidenhof, to which they sat down, at the early hour of 
two o'clock — later by an hour than the usual time of 
dinner. 

" Here I had the honour of being presented to the 
Princess Elizabeth, as Landgravine of Hesse Homburg. 
Under the latter title, this amiable Princess has done more 
for the happiness and prosperity of the inhabitants than 
all the combined events of the last century. 

" The Landgrave is in appearance what he is in reality 
— a soldier. With the interest of his country warmly at 
heart, he has the good wishes of every one who has 



ELIZABETH OF EKGLA^D. 343 

passed an hour in his company. Nothing can exceed his 
affability and goodness of heart. The former is conspi- 
cuous in his conversation and intercourse with strangers, 
the latter is exemplified by the actions and occupations of 
every day. In company, he has the dignified ease becom- 
ing his station, and the happy tact of neither feeling re- 
straint nor imposing it upon others. 

" Their Royal Highnesses will make a visit of some 
days at Homburg on their return." 

The excellent and patriotic Prince of Hesse Homburg 
was one of the oldest friends, and a fellow student, of the 
late Duke of Kent. He died early in the year 1828, 
leaving no children by his marriage with the Princess 
Elizabeth of England. 

Of all the English Princesses of the House of Hanover, 
Princess Elizabeth of Hesse Homburg appears to have 
felt the greatest sympathy for her illustrious and ill-fated 
relative, the wife of George I., King of England. In 
this she possessed remarkable interest ; and being a lady 
of much literary talent, and endowed with a superior 
taste for the arts, in which she was herself so highly 
accomplished, she devoted herself, after her marriage with 
the Landgrave of Hesse Homburg, which fixed her own 
residence in a locality rendered so famous by her unhappy 
relative, to the task of writing a history of Sophia Doro- 
thea, which she embellished with careful drawings. This 
interesting MS. is preserved in the Palace at Hesse Hom- 
burg ; and the portraits which form frontispieces to the Life 
of that unfortunate Princess, published some years since, 
are among its most valued illustrations. 



311 






PRINCESS MARY, 

DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER, 
FOURTH DAUGHTER OF GEORGE III. 

Birth of Princess Mary, eleventh child of Queen Charlotte — All 
living when she was born — Baptism — Sponsors — Addresses to the 
King — A remarkable one from the Lord Mayor — Princess Mary 
forms an attachment for William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, her 
cousin — His family — Marriage of his father — His mother and 
sisters — Royal Marriage Act — Princesses Sophia Matilda and 
Caroline Augusta — Prince of Orange — Prince Leopold of Saxe 
Cobourg — Marriage of Princess Charlotte — Princess Mary marries 
the Duke of Gloucester— Disappointment of a humbler suitor — 
Character and death of the Duke of Gloucester — Retired life of 
his widow — Affection of the Royal family for her — Her extensive 
charities — Last illness — Death of the Duchess — The Queen's ac- 
couchement — The Art Treasures Exhibition at Manchester — Re- 
markable sacrifice of feeling made by the Prince Consort for the 
people — Opening of the Art Treasures Exhibition — Speeches on 
the occasion — Funeral of the lamented Duchess — Universal regret 
of the nation. 

Tiieiie is something singularly beautiful to contemplate- 
in the history of the fourth daughter of George III. and 
Queen Charlotte. When we gaze upon the humble violet, 
which, by its intrinsic sweetness, pours forth far and wide 
from the most unseen and obscure nook of earth its 
fragrancy on all around, we do not expect to find in it the 
towering grandeur of the exalted lily or gaudy tulip. 
When, on the other hand, we raise our contemplation to the 
high-born, peerless, and beautiful aristocracy, we scarcely 



MART, DUCHESS OE GLOUCESTER. 345 

expect to discover those humbler and less attractive 
merits which, as the violet, descend to a level with the 
smallest things of earth. Higher still, to gaze on the 
regally born, we cannot refrain from admiring in them 
those unobtrusive and sterling qualities which give lustre 
and dignity to rank, without which beauty loses its 
charm, wealth and grandeur are little worth, and the 
highest dignity on earth is an empty name. 

Princess Mary, afterwards Duchess of Gloucester, 
united in her own person all the amiable and excellent 
qualities of her sex. She was fair, good, amiable, and ac- 
complished ; worthy to adorn a throne, yet possessed 
every virtue to shine in the humbler station, had such 
been her allotted destiny. She had all these excellent 
claims on the admiration and respect of her fellow- 
creatures, without ostentation, without pretence. Like 
the violet, with its intrinsic sweetness, she did possess 
them, and cared not to vaunt her own excellence : it 
spoke its own praises, and was the more admired. 

Princess Mary was born April 25th, 1776, about the 
hour of six in the morning. There being every prospect 
that the event was near at hand, intimation was sent to 
the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Secretaries of State, 
and several of the nobility. At seven o'clock her Majesty 
was safely delivered of this Princess, her eleventh child, 
all of the others being yet living, and the Queen being 
then nearly approaching her thirty-third birthday, the 19th 
of May. On that anniversary of her Majesty's nativity, 
the ceremony of christening the infant Princess was per- 
formed in the Great Council Chamber, by his Grace the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, when her Koyal Highness re- 
ceived the name of Mary — one of the most interesting 
and distinguished in our national history. The sponsors 



316 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

on this occasion were Prince Frederick of Hesse Cassel, 
represented by the Earl of Hertford, Lord Chamberlain of 
her Majesty's household ; the Duchess of Saxe Gotha, re- 
presented by the Duchess of Argyle ; and the Princess 
Frederica of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, represented by the 
Countess Dowager of Effingham. 

On this happy occasion, both Houses, and the Lord 
Mayor, &c, addressed his Majesty, as usual ; but as the 
latter is not altogether in the usual style, our readers may 
be srlad to see it. 

" Most Gracious Sovereign, 

"Your Majesty's loyal subjects, Lord Mayor, 
Aldermen, and Commons of the City of London, in Com- 
mon Council assembled, approach your Majesty with their 
congratulations on the happy delivery of their most 
amiable Queen, and the birth of another Princess ; and to 
assure your Majesty that there are not, in all your do- 
minions, any subjects more faithful, or more ready to 
maintain the true honour and dignity of your Crown. 

" They will continue to rejoice in every event which 
adds to your Majesty's domestic felicity ; and they hope 
that every branch of the august House of Brunswick will 
add further security to those sacred laws and liberties 
which their ancestors would not suffer to be violated with 
impunity, and which, in consequence of the glorious and 
necessary Revolution, that illustrious House was called 
forth to protect and defend. 

" Signed, by order of Court, 

" William Bex." 

His Majesty's Answer. 
" I thank you for this dutiful address on the happy 
delivery of the Queen, and the birth of another Princess. 



MAEY, DUCHESS OP GLOUCESTEE. 347 

" The security of the laws and liberties of my people 
has always been, and ever shall be, the object of my care 
and attention." 

The Princess Mary remained single nntil the age of 
forty, a circumstance necessary to be explained. Her 
Eoyal rank, her exemplary virtues, and endowments both 
personal and mental, made such an impression on all minds 
as to ensure the fact that her hand would be early dis- 
posed of: but the world was mistaken. Mary's heart was 
indeed early given away, but interposing events prevented 
for years the fulfilment of her hopes, and the morning of 
life had passed and its meridian been attained, when she 
became finally the happy wife of the husband of her 
choice. This was no other than her cousin, William Fre- 
derick, Duke of Gloucester, a Prince whose many virtues 
rendered him in every way worthy of his amiable partner. 
Mary had early known the many excellent qualities of her 
Princely -cousin, but it would seem that though her feel- 
ings of partiality were reciprocated on the part of the 
Duke, a higher destiny still, if worldly honours were to be 
considered, was the barrier placed in the path whither 
affection would have led, and mutual inclinations on the 
side both of Mary and her lover had to be sacrificed on 
the altar of the nation's welfare. 

When Mary was twenty years of age, the Prince 
of Wales entered into a marriage with the Princess Caro- 
line of Brunswick, of which the issue was an only daugh- 
ter, the Princess Charlotte of Wales. As that child 
progressed towards maturity, it became a subject of consi- 
derable anxiety that the line of succession should be 
preserved unbroken, and of course a future husband 
of suitable rank provided for the young Princess. There 
appeared none more eligible at the time than the Duke of 



1348 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Gloucester, though that Prince was twenty years the 
senior of his proposed bride ; but as the Eoyal Marriage 
Act precluded her union to one of humbler rank than her 
own, he was given to understand that he was forbidden to 
aspire to the hand of the Princess Mary, and to consider 
himself bound to become, at a future day, the husband of 
his cousin, Charlotte Augusta, destined at some distant 
da} r to wear the crown of England as Queen Regnant. 
Alas! how short-sighted is human nature! That fair 
girl's crown was an early grave — her kingdom was not to 
be in this world ! 

Singularly enough, the Eo} r al Marriage Act had been 
passed on account of the vexation occasioned by the marriage 
-of the Duke of Gloucester's father, many years before the 
date of which we are writing. It may not be uninterest- 
ing to give here a short notice of the circumstance. It is 
related by Horace Walpole, in his " Memoirs of the Reign 
of King George III.," in the following words: — " Maria 
Walpole, second daughter of my brother Sir Edward, and 
one of the most beautiful of women, had been married 
solely by my means to James, late Earl of Waldegrave, 
Governor to the King and Duke of York, an excellent 
man, but as old again as she was, and of no agreeable 
figure. Her passions were ambition and expense : she 
accepted his hand with pleasure ; and, by an effort less 
■common, proved a meritorious wife. When, after her year of 
widowhood, she appeared again in the full lustre of her 
beauty, she was courted by the Duke of Portland ; but 
the young Duke of Gloucester, who had gazed on her 
with desire during her husband's life, now openly showed 
himself her admirer : she slighted the subject, and aspired 
to the brother of the Crown. Her obligations to me, and 
my fondness for her, authorized me to interpose my advice, 



MAEY, DUCHESS OE GLOUCESTEB. 349 

which was kindly but unwillingly received. I did not 
desist ; but pointed out the improbabilities of mar- 
riage, the little likelihood of the King's consent, and 
the chance of being sent to Hanover, separated from her 
children,* on whom she doated. The last reason alone 
prevailed on the fond mother, and she yielded to copy a 
letter I wrote for her to the Duke of Gloucester, in which 
she renounced his acquaintance in the no new terms of not 
being of rank to be his wife, and too considerable to be 
his mistress. A short fortnight baffled all my prudence. 
The Prince renewed his visits with more assiduity after 
that little interval, and Lady Waldegrave received him 
without disguise. My part was soon taken. I had done 
my duty; a second attempt had been hopeless folly. 
Though often pressed to sup with her, when I knew the 
Duke was to be there, I steadily refused, and never once 
mentioned his name to her afterwards, though, as their union 
grew more serious, she affectedly named him to me, called 
him the Duke, and related to me private anecdotes of the 
Poyal family, which she could have received but from 
him. It was in vain. I studiously avoided him. She 
brought him to my house, but I happened not to be at 
home. He came again alone ; I left the house. He then 
desisted, for I never stayed for his Court, which followed 
the Princess Dowager's, but retired as soon as she had 
spoken to me. This, as may be supposed, cooled my niece's 
affection for me ; but being determined not to have the air 
of being convenient to her from flattery, if she was not 
married, and having no authority to ask her the ques- 
tion on which she had refused to satisfy her father, I 
preferred my honour to her favour, and left her to her 

* By Lord Waldegrave she had three daughters, the Ladies Laura, 
Maria, and Horatia. 

A A 



550 THE EOTAL PEINCESSES. 

own conduct. Indeed, my own father's obligations to the 
Royal family forbade me to endeavour to place a natural 
daughter of our house so near the Throne. To my brother 
the Duke was profuse of civilities, which I pressed him to 
decline ; and even advised him not to see his daughter, 
unless she would own her marriage, which might oblige 
the Duke, in vindication of her character, to avow her for 
his wife. Married I had no doubt they were. Both the 
Duke and she were remarkably religious ; and neither of 
them dissolute enough to live, as they did at last, with 
all the liberties of marriage. The King and Queen 
denied their legal union, yet the respect with which they 
treated her spoke the contrary; and the homage which 
all men and all women paid her, by a fortune singular 
to her, assured the opinion of her virtue, and made it 
believed that the King, privy to their secret, had exacted 
a promise of their not divulging it. By degrees her situa- 
tion became still less problematic; and both the Duke 
and she affectedly took all occasions of intimating it by a 
formal declaration. At first she had houses, or lodgings, 
in the palaces nearest to his residence; and the latter 
were furnished from the Eoyal wardrobe without limita- 
tion. She changed her liveries to a compound of the 
Eoyal — was covered with jewels — the Duke's gentlemen 
and equerries handed her to her chair in public — his equi- 
pages were despatched for her — his sister, the Queen of 
Denmark, sent her presents by him, and she quitted all 
assemblies at nine at night, saying, ' You know, I must 
go.' At St. Leonard's Hill, in Windsor Forest, near his 
own lodge at Cranbourne, he built her a Palace, and lay 
there every night : his picture, and Lord Waldegrave's, 
she showed in her bedchamber. These were not the 
symptoms of a dissoluble connexion. Once they both 



MA.BY, DUCHESS OE GLOTJCESTEK. 851 

seemed, in 1766, to be impatient of ascertaining her rank. 
She had obtained lodgings in the most inner court of the 
Palace at Hampton, and demanded permission of Lord 
Hertford, Lord Chamberlain, for her coach to drive into it, 
an honour peculiar to the Royal family. He, feeling the 
delicacy of the proposal, which would have amounted to 
a declaration, unless a like permission had been indulged 
to other Countesses residing there, delayed mentioning it 
to the King, to whom he knew the request would be 
unwelcome. Lady Waldegrave sent to the Chamberlain's 
office to know if it was granted. Lord Hertford then was 
obliged to speak. The King peremptorily refused, saying, 
he could not break through old orders. Afraid of shocking • 
her, Lady Hertford begged I would acquaint Lady Walde- 
grave. I flatly refused to meddle in the business. In 
the meantime the Dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland 
went to Hampton Court. The former asked Ely, of the 
Chamberlain's office, if the request was granted ; and, 
being told Lord Hertford was to ask it of his Majesty, 
the Duke, losing his usual temper, said passionately, 
' Lord Hertford might have done ifc without speaking to 
the King (which would have been rash indeed!) — but 
that not only Lady Waldegrave' s coach should drive in, 
but that she herself should go up the Queen's staircase.' 
This being reported to Lord Hertford, he again pressed 
me to interpose ; but I again refused ; yet, lest the Duke 
should resent it, I advised him to write to my niece ; but 
she threw up her lodgings when she could not carry the 
point she had aimed at. She obtained, however, about 
a year after, a sort of equivocal acknowledgment of what 
she was. The Duke of Gloucester gave a ball to the King 
and Queen, to which nobody without exception, but certain 
of their servants, and their husbands, and wives, and children, 
aa2 



352 THE EOrAl. PRINCESSES. 

were admitted, yet Lady Waldegrave and her eldest daughter 
appeared there. She could have no pretension to be pre- 
sent, being attached by no post to either King or Queen ; 
and it spoke for itself, that the Duke could not have pro- 
posed to introduce his mistress to an entertainment dedi- 
cated to the Queen. The Princess Dowager (and she was 
then believed to be the principal obstacle to the publicity of 
the marriage) alone treated Lady Waldegrave with coldness, 
another presumption of their being married. His declining 
health often carried the Duke abroad. The Great Duke, 
with whom he contracted a friendship, told Lady Hamil- 
ton, wife of our Minister at Naples, that the Duke had 
# owned his marriage to him. It was this union that was 
censured in the North Briton, as threatening a revival of 
the feuds of the two Eoses, by a Prince of the Blood 
marrying a subject." # 

It was this marriage also which led, as before remarked, 
to the Royal Marriage Act. Though the King was in the 
first instance as much opposed to the union as the Princess 
Dowager, and in 1775, when the Duke requested permis- 
sion to travel on the Continent, positively declined to 
make a provision for his Royal Highness's family, he 
eventually behaved with the greatest generosity towards 
the Duchess and her children by the Duke, whose conduct 
was indeed so irreproachable that the marriage ceased to 
be any longer a matter of regret. f 

The Duchess of Gloucester had one son, William Fre- 
derick, by the marriage to the Duke, who succeeded to his 
father's dignity ; and two daughters — Sophia Matilda, born 
in May, 1773, and Caroline Augusta, born June 24th, 
1774 ; the latter died in her infancy. On the occasion of 

* Walpole's " Memoirs." 
f Walpole's " Memoirs " — Editor's note. 



MART, DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER. 353 

the birth of the former, a Court of Common Council was 
held in the City, on the 9th of June, at which it was pro- 
posed by Wilkes that an address of congratulation should 
be presented to the King. The motion was seconded by 
Sir Watkin Lewes ; but considerable opposition took place, 
particularly on the part of Alderman Trecothick, who 
objected to it as an affront to his Majesty, who, up to that 
period, had not acknowledged the Duchess as his sister. 
The reply was, that the marriage was notorious ; and that 
the Dukes of Richmond and Dorset, the Bishop of Exeter, 
Lady Albemarle, and other personages of the first quality, 
had been present at the delivery. It was, however, passed 
over in the negative, upon the more delicate plea, that it 
was not usual for the City to address, except for the issue 
of the immediate heir to the Crown. 

The Eoyal baptism took place a few days afterwards, 
when the Princess Amelia and the Duke and Duchess of 
Cumberland were the sponsors ; so that it may be sup- 
posed his Majesty's displeasure at that period was more a 
matter of etiquette than of strict family disagreement. 

Although Princess Sophia Matilda of Gloucester dis- 
played no public talents, her private character is said to 
have been not only above impeachment, but decidedly 
commendable. 

Years rolled on, and the Princess Charlotte of Wales 
advanced to maturity ; her hand, the high prize which was 
to bestow a crown, had not yet been given away, though 
coveted by many a youthful aspirant. The world pre- 
dicted success to the young Prince of Orange, but the 
heart of Charlotte Augusta awarded the preference to the 
fortunate Prince Leopold of Saxe Cobourg Saalfield, to 
whom she was united on May 2nd, 1816 — a tie too soon to 
be dissolved by the premature death of that sweet young 



354 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

Princess. When the Princess Mary, on the occasion of 
her niece's marriage, embraced her with tears of joy in her 
eyes, there was a load removed from her bosom which had 
weighed down her own spirit during many a weary year. 
The barrier was at last removed which had obstructed 
her own happiness. The tried affection of years was now 
to be rewarded, her wishes to be accomplished; and with the 
consent of Queen Charlotte and the Prince Regent, she 
was shortly afterwards united to her cousin the Duke of 
Gloucester. A few weeks only intervened before that cere- 
mony was performed, which terminated, happily to both, 
the suspended intercourse of an attachment which had 
endured for about twenty years. The event took place 
July 22nd, 1816, at the Queen's house; and on this occa- 
sion no application was made to Parliament for any pecu- 
niary grant whatever, either by way of outfit or annuity. 
It needs not be added, the union proved a happy one 
to the bridal pair, though it terminated for ever the 
fruitless ambition of another aspirant to the Princess's 
regard. This was Dr. Tuxford, a wealthy physician, who 
had long sighed in vain over his hopeless passion, and who 
eventually consoled himself, on his death-bed, by be- 
queathing 100,000Z. to the unapproachable object of his 
fruitless love. 

The union of Princess Mary with the Duke of Glou- 
cester lasted for eighteen years. After the death of the 
Duke, which took place November 30th, 1834, she led a 
very retired life, occupying herself in actions of kindness 
and benevolence — those unostentatious deeds which fill up 
the sum of human existence so worthily, and so silently, 
that they are felt, though not always seen. A better and 
more charitable and endearing character than Princess 
Mary could not have been; and she long continued to 



MART, DTJCHESS OE GLOXTCESTEE. 355 

obtain, as she merited, tokens of kindness and affection 
from every member of the Royal family. She was re- 
siding at Gloucester House, Piccadilly, during her last 
illness, and had just completed her eighty-first year on 
the Saturday previous to her death. A supplement to the 
London Gazette, dated Whitehall, April 30th, 1857, has 
these words, announcing the sad event : — 

" This morning, at a quarter after five o'clock, her Royal 
Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, aunt to her Most 
Gracious Majesty, departed this life at Gloucester House, 
to the grief of her Majesty and of the Royal family." 

During the illness of the departed Duchess, the mem- 
bers of the Royal family had been unremitting in their 
attention, and in her last moments were present their 
Royal Highnesses the Duke of Cambridge, the Duchess of 
Cambridge, the Princess Mary, her daughter, with her 
Royal sister, the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklen- 
burgh Strelitz, all of whom had remained at Gloucester 
House during the night. Two medical men also were in 
attendance on her Royal Highness until the time of her 
death. The Duchess of Cambridge and her daughters 
departed in the morning for Kew. The melancholy event 
was communicated to her Majesty and the Prince Consort 
by his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, who 
subsequently proceeded to inform her Royal Highness the 
Duchess of Kent of the same afflicting news. 

It had been arranged for some time past that the Art 
Treasures Exhibition at Manchester should be opened in 
person by the Prince Consort, on the 5th of May ; the 
Queen's state of health, it being the period of her accouche- 
ment with the Princess Beatrice, having prevented her 
being present. In consequence of the death of the Duchess 
of Gloucester, the Executive Committee forwarded an 



356 THE BOYAL PKINCESSES. 

address of condolence to his Eoyal Highness the Prince 
Consort. In the course of the afternoon of the same day 
a message was received from Colonel Phipps, stating that 
he was commanded to inform the Executive Committee 
that in consequence of the national importance of the 
occasion, the preparations made, and the disappointment 
to the public if the Art Treasures Exhibition were not 
opened on the 5th, his Eoyal Highness would be present 
as arranged ; but that, in every other respect, the Eoyal 
visit to Manchester was to be considered strictly private. 

When the Art Treasures Exhibition at Manchester was 
opened by his Eoyal Highness the Prince Consort, on 
May 5th, 1857, after the " National Anthem" had been 
sung, Lord Overstone advanced, and, in the name of 
the General Council, read the following address to the 
Prince Consort : — 

" To his Royal Highness the J?rince Albert '; K.G. 

" May it please your Eoyal Highness — In the name of 
the General Council, of the Executive Committee, and of 
all the officers connected with the preparatory arrange- 
ments of this great undertaking, I approach your Eoyal 
Highness with the expression of our deep sense of obliga- 
tion for the constant interest which your Eoyal Highness 
has taken in the success of the Exhibition now about to 
be opened for the gratification and instruction of the 
public. 

" Before, however, we enter upon the more formal pro- 
ceedings of this day, we beg to tender to your Eoyal 
Highness our sincere condolence on the event which has 
brought sorrow to her Most Gracious Majesty our Queen, 
to your Eoyal Highness, and to the members of the Eoyal 
family, and which has at the same time caused deep re- 



MART, DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER. 357 

gret to her Majesty's subjects, who have long admired the 
virtues and respected the character of her late Royal 
Highness the Duchess of Gloucester. 

" In the presence of your Royal Highness among us 
under these painful circumstances, and the decision of your 
Eoyal Highness not to suspend the ceremonial of this 
day, we gratefully recognise a delicate consideration of the 
importance of the occasion, and a gracious desire not to 
disappoint the vast numbers who must have made arrange- 
ments which it would have been impossible to postpone. 
At the same time we respectfully appreciate and sym- 
pathize with those feelings which cause your Royal High- 
ness to desire to remain in all other respects in the strictest 
privacy. 

" Overstone, 

" President of the General Council." 

His Royal Highness replied as follows : — 
" My Lord and Gentlemen, 

" You are very kind in thinking at this moment of 
the bereavement which has befallen the Queen and her 
family. 

" In the Duchess of Gloucester we have all lost, not 
only the last of the children of that good King who oc- 
cupied the Throne during sixty years, and carried this 
country fearlessly and successfully through the most mo- 
mentous struggles of its history, and thus the last per- 
sonal link with those times ; but also a lady whose virtues 
and qualities of the heart had commanded the respect and 
love of all who knew her. 

" If I have thought it my duty to attend here to-day, 
although her mortal remains have not yet been carried to 
their last place of rest, my decision has been rendered easy 



358 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

by the conviction that, could her own opinions and wishes 
have been known, she would, with that sense of duty 
and patriotic feeling which so much distinguished her 
and the generation to which she belonged, have been 
anxious that I should not, on her account, or from private 
feelings, disturb an arrangement intended for the public 
good. 5 ' 

On the day the Duchess of Gloucester died, every testi- 
mony of respect was paid to her. The bells of all the 
numerous churches in the metropolis tolled, and the bells 
of the Eoyal churches rang muffled peals. The tradesmen 
at the West-end had their shops partially closed, and the 
theatres were suspended in the evening : all ranks seemed 
desirous to evince their respect for the virtues of- the de- 
parted Princess. 

By the particular desire of the deceased Duchess, no 
display, beyond that observable at the funeral of a private 
individual, was to be permitted in the present instance : 
excepting the presence of a detachment of the Life Guards 
to escort the funeral cortege to the terminus of the Great 
Western Eailway, Paddington, this wish was complied with. 
Orders were also given at Windsor for opening the Eoyal 
mausoleum in St. George's Chapel, that the remains of 
the Duchess might be placed by the side of her deceased 
husband. 

The Eoyal funeral, which took place on the 9th of 
May, was conducted according to the following cere- 
monial : — 

At nine o'clock, a Guard of Honour of the Coldstream 
Guards was mounted in front of Gloucester House, whence 
the body was conveyed to the terminus at Paddington, 



MARY, DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER. 359 

followed by the pages of her late Eoyal Highness, in 
a mourning coach drawn by four horses ; the house 
steward and two dressers of her late Koyal Highness, also 
in a mourning coach drawn by four horses ; the chaplain 
and medical attendants of her late Royal Highness in a 
mourning coach drawn by four horses ; the executors of 
her late Eoyal Highness in a mourning coach drawn 
by four horses ; the four ladies who would support 
the pall in a mourning coach drawn by four horses ; and 
the Vice-Chamberlain of her Majesty's Household, and 
the Comptroller in the Lord Chamberlain's department. 
Her late Royal Highness's State carriage followed, in 
w T hich was the coronet of her late Royal Highness, borne 
upon a velvet cushion by Colonel the Hon. Augustus Lid- 
dell, Comptroller and Equerry to her late Royal Highness. 
Afterwards came the hearse, drawn by eight horses. An 
escort of the 1st Life Guards accompanied the procession to 
the Paddington terminus. 

At the Paddington station, a Guard of Honour of the 
Scotch Fusileer Guards was mounted. The station was 
crowded by persons who had come together to witness the 
last progress of one who, in her life, was not more distin- 
guished by rank than by her unostentatious virtues. 

Upon the arrival of the body at Slough, the pro- 
cession was* joined by — 

The Lord Chamberlain of her Majesty's Household, 
The Lord in Waiting to her Majesty, 
The Groom in Waiting to her Majesty, 
The Equerry in Waiting to her Majesty, 
The Equerry to her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, 
The Equerry to her Royal Highness the Duchess of 

Cambridge, 



3G0 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

The Lady in Waiting to her Majesty, 

The Bedchamber Woman to her Majesty, 

Two Maids of Honour to her Majesty, 

The Lady in Waiting upon her Royal Highness the 

Duchess of Kent, 
The Lady in Waiting upon her Eoyal Highness the 

Duchess of Cambridge, 
The Lady in Waiting upon her Eoyal Highness the 

Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburgh Strelitz. 
A Guard of Honour was mounted at the station, and 
the procession advanced slowly onward from the station at 
Slough for a distance of three miles to St. George's 
Chapel, Windsor, followed by three State carriages con- 
veying the members of her Majesty's Household, and also 
by the State carriages of her Eoyal Highness the Duchess 
of Kent, her Eoyal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, 
and of his Eoyal Highness the Duke of Cambridge. 

On the procession arriving at the entrance of St. 
George's Chapel, the escort of the Blues, whicli had 
joined it at Slough, filed off, a Guard of Honour of the 
Grenadier Guards being there in attendance. 

Exactly at twelve o'clock the bell of the chapel tolled 
out its solemn note, and the body of her late Eoyal High- 
ness was borne within the walls of that sacred edifice, 
which for a long series of years has been the consecrated 
depository of her Eoyal race. 

The coffin, which was of mahogany, and covered with 
rich crimson velvet, was placed on tressels, having a black 
velvet pall, bearing eight heraldic escutcheons, over it. At 
the head of the lid there was a coronet, and at the foot 
the torch of life reversed ; with massive handles and 
plates ; the whole being intended to represent a splendid 
casket. It bore the following inscription : — 



MART, DTJCHESS OF GLOUCESTER 361 

DEPOSITUM 
ILLUSTRISSIM-E PRINCIPISS.& 

MAKIiE, 

ILLUSTRISSIMI PRINCIPIS 

GULIELMI FREDERICI, 

DUCIS GLOCESTRIjE ET EDINBURGI 

VIDIL3E, 

ET FILI^ NATU QUARTS, 

AUGUSTISSIMI ET POTENTISSIMI 

GEORGII TERTII 

DEI GRATIA BRITANNIARUM REGIS, 

OBIIT TRICESIMO DIE APRIL1S, 

MDCCCLVII. 

ANNOQUE -&TATIS LXXXII. 

The nave through which the funeral procession passed 
was covered with black cloth, and the floor and also the 
seats in the choir were covered with the same material : 
in front of the reading-desk was an escocheon of the arms 
of the late Duchess. 

On the procession moving from the entrance, the gentle- 
men and boys composing the choir of St. George's Chapel 
commenced singing the 25th and 26th verses of the 11th 
chapter of St. John ("I am the resurrection") ; and when 
the body reached the choir, the 90th Psalm (" Lord, thou 
hast been our refuge") was chanted. The coffin, as already 
described, was placed upon tressels with the feet towards 
the altar, and the coronet and cushion were laid upon the 
coffin. The chief mourner, the Duchess of Atholl, sat at 
the head of the corpse, attended by Lady Couper. The 
supporters of the pall — the Hon. Mrs. Liddell and Lady 
Georgiana Bathurst, and Lady Caroline Murray and Lady 
Charles Somerset — sat on either side. The Lord Chamber- 
lain, the Marquis of Breadalbane, stood at the feet, having 
on his right the Vice-Chamberlain, Lord Ernest Bruce, 
and on his left the Comptroller and Chief Equerry of the 



362 THE ROTAL PKINCESSES. 

late Duchess, Colonel the Hon. Augustus Liddell, and the 
Comptroller in the Lord Chamberlain's Department, Mr. 
Norman Macdonald. 

Shortly before the arrival of the procession, his Royal 
Highness the Prince Consort, his Royal Highness the Prince 
of Wales, and his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, 
entered the chapel, and were conducted to stalls imme- 
diately adjoining that of the Sovereign. Prince Albert 
and the Duke wore the riband and star of the Garter. 
His Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar 
was also conducted to a seat. 

Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cambridge, the 
Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, and 
the Princess Mary of Cambridge, were in the Royal 
closet of the chapel. 

Earl Spencer, Lord Steward of the Queen's Household, 
and the Marquis of Abercorn, Groom of the Stole to the 
Prince, occupied their respective stalls as Knights of the 
Garter on opposite sides of the chapel, and each wore the 
riband and star of the order. 

Beneath Lord Abercorn's stall were seated the visitors, 
friends of the late Duchess — viz., Earl Howe, Viscount 
Falkland, Lord Redesdale, the Hon. Mr. Waldegrave, Sir 
William Gomm, Colonel F. H. Seymour (son of Sir 
George Seymour), Colonel Forster, and Colonel Stephens. 

On the entrance of the procession in the choir, the 
executors of her Royal Highness the late Duchess, the 
Earl of Yerulam, Mr. H. W. Vincent, and Mr. Mortimer 
Drummond, were conducted to seats in front of those 
occupied by the friends of the deceased Duchess. 

The following were also conducted to seats — viz., the 
Master of the Horse, the Duke of Wellington ; the Lady 
in Waiting to the Queen, the Countess of Desart ; the 



MAEY, DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER. 363 

Bedchamber Woman, Lady Codrington ; the Maids of 
Honour, the Hon. Eleanor Stanley and the Hon. Lucy 
Kerr; the Lady in Waiting to the Duchess of Kent, 
Lady Anna Maria Dawson ; the Lady in Waiting to the 
Duchess of Cambridge, Lady Geraldine Somerset ; the 
Lady in Waiting to the Hereditary Grand Duchess of 
Mecklenburg Strelitz, Lady Caroline Cust; the Lord in 
Waiting to the Queen, Lord Waterpark ; the Groom in 
Waiting, General Sir Edward Bowater ; the Clerk Mar- 
shal, Lord Alfred Paget ; the Bepresentative of his Ma- 
jesty the King of Hanover, Baron de Brandeis, and his 
Aide-de-Camp, Lieutenant de Brandeis ; the Equerry to 
his Majesty the King of the Belgians, Major-General the 
Hon. Sir Edward Cust ; the Equerry to the Duchess of 
Kent, Colonel Sir George Couper, Bart. ; the Equerry to 
the Duchess of Cambridge, Baron Knesebeck ; the Gentle- 
man in Waiting to the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Meck- 
lenburg Strelitz, Baron von During ; the Lord in Waiting 
to Prince Albert, Viscount Torrington; the Groom in Wait- 
ing, Colonel P. Seymour, C.B. ; the Equerry in Waiting, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Ponsonby ; in waiting on the Prince 
of Wales, Mr. F. Cavendish and Mr. Gibbs ; the Equerry 
to the Duke of Cambridge, Colonel the Hon. James Mac- 
donald; the Chaplain of the late Boyal Duchess, the Bev.E. 
Nepean ; and the medical attendants, Dr. Eerguson, Dr. 
Hawkins, and Mr. Hills. 

Garter King-at-Arms, Sir Charles Young, bearing his 
gold sceptre, stood near the coffin. 

The Canons of Windsor, the Bev. William Canning, 
the Bev. Charles Proby, and the Hon. and Bev. Edward 
Moore, preceded the body from the entrance of the 
chapel, and the Hon. and Bev. Mr. Cust was also 
present. 



364 THE EOYAL PKINOESSES. 

The 90th Psalm having been chanted, the Dean of 
Windsor, the Hon. and Eev. Gerald Wellesley, who wore 
his badge of office in the Order of the Garter, read the 
lesson, commencing " Now is Christ risen from the dead." 
When this was finished, the members of the choir of the 
chapel sang Handel's anthem, from Job, chap. 29, verses 
11 and 12, "When the ear heard her," together with the 
chorus, " She delivered the poor that cried." 

The coffin, of crimson velvet with gilt mountings, which 
had been covered with a black velvet pall, having eight 
escutcheons of her Eoyal Highness's arms emblazoned 
thereon, was then uncovered, and was removed to the en- 
trance of the Eoyal vault, and the Dean proceeded with 
the service, " Man that is born of a woman," and " For- 
asmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God," when the 
coffin was gradually lowered into the vault near the 
Sovereign's stall. 

The choristers then sang, " I heard a voice from 
Heaven" (Croft). The Dean repeated the Lord's P^er, 
and also the prayer, " Almighty God, with whom do live 
the spirits of them that depart." A second anthem, also 
by Handel, " Her body is buried in peace, but her name 
liveth evermore," was then sung. The Dean concluded 
the burial service with the collect, " merciful God." 

Garter King-at-Arms proclaimed near the grave the 
style of her Eoyal Highness the late Duchess as widow of 
William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, fourth daughter of 
the late King George III., and aunt of her present 
Majesty the Queen. 

Dr. Elvey, who presided at the organ, then played the 
"Dead March" in Saul. 

Their Eoyal Highnesses the Prince Consort, the Prince 
of Wales, and the Duke of Cambridge were conducted out 



MARY, DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER. 3G5 

of the chapel, the service concluding at twenty-five minutes 
past one o'clock. 

The Prince Consort arrived at eleven o'clock in the 
morning at Windsor Castle, having travelled from Osborne 
to attend the funeral. His Boyal Highness took his de- 
parture about three o'clock, on his return to Osborne. 

The Prince of Wales had arrived at Windsor Castle from 
London soon after eleven o'clock, in order to be present at 
the funeral : his Eoyal Highness, attended by Mr. F. 
Cavendish and Mr. Gibbs, quitted the Castle in the after- 
noon, on his return to Buckingham Palace. 

The Lord Chamberlain and the gentlemen of his depart- 
ment remained in the chapel after the departure of the 
Hoyal family, to superintend the closing of the vault. 

Nothing more remains to be added of the Princess 
Mary, except that as her private career in life was marked 
by every womanly virtue, and the profuse exercise of un- 
ostentatious charity, she will long be remembered in the 
high society in which she moved and of which she was so 
distinguished an ornament, with the deepest regret ; and 
the nation, in awarding their esteem and grateful memory 
to this Princess, cannot forget that in her they have lost 
the last representative of a generation which has passed 
away to belong to after ages as subject of history. 



B B 



366 



CHARLOTTE CAROLINE AUGUSTA, 

DAUGHTER OF GEORGE IV. 

Birth of Princess Charlotte — Her baptism — Education — Early bene- 
volence — Visits Bognor — Restricted intercourse with her mother — 
Windsor — Has the measles — Confirmation — Comes of age — Death 
of the Duke of Brunswick— Visits the Leviathan — Entertainment 
at Frogmore — Original genius of Queen Charlotte — First Drawing- 
room — Her first evening party at Carlton House — Prince of Orange 
— Prince Leopold of Saxe-Cobourg — Princess marries the latter — 
Her income — Anecdote of her spirit— Retires to Claremont — In- 
stances of her benevolence — Her death — Public announcement of 
the event — Grief of her family and the nation — -Personal appear- 
ance and character — Princesses Augusta and Mary of Cambridge 
— Marriage of the former to the Duke of Mecklenburg Strelitz. 

There is so much of pleasure always associated with 
pain in every circumstance in this world, that sometimes, 
when there is the fairest promise, there is the bitterest of 
disappointments ! 

'Never, surely, was this fact of the perishable and un- 
certain nature of earthly hopes more evident than in the 
instance before us of the Princess Charlotte, the only 
daughter of George IV. This Princess, from her birth 
the heiress of the first kingdom in the world, the hope 
and darling of a nation, after being happily reared to ma- 
turity, in health, beauty, virtue, and the possession of all 
that could make life dear, was snatched from the world at 
a moment when existence, before so dear, would have 
become endowed with double charms — when the happy 
wife was about to prove the blessings of the happy mother ! 

The first memorable event of my own infant years was 
the deep, solemn tolling of that bell whose mournful note 
announced the departure of this Princess — one of the best 



CHAELOTTE CAROLINE AUGUSTA. 367 

and most beloved of the daughters of our Hanoverian sove- 
reigns. The impression it made will never be forgotten ! — 
it was echoed by every countenance — the index to every 
heart ! 

G-eorge IY. and his cousin, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, 
second daughter of his Serene Highness the Duke of 
Brunswick, were united to each other on the 8th of April, 
1795. Their only daughter was born on the 7th of 
-January, 1796. The event took place at Carlton House, 
between the hours of one and two in the morning. There 
were present at the time the Duke of Gloucester, the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord High Chancellor, 
the Lord President of his Majesty's Council, the Duke of 
Leeds, the Lord Chamberlain, Earl Jersey, Master of the 
Horse to the Prince of Wales, Lord Thurlow, and the 
Ladies of her Eoyal Highness the Princess of Wales' 
Bedchamber. 

The infant Princess was christened on Thursday, the 
11th of February. At half-past four, their Majesties and 
the Princesses arrived at Carlton House, having been pre- 
ceded by the younger Princesses, and other visitors. 
" Dinner was served up soon after, which consisted of two 
full courses and a dessert, in the most elegant and frugal 
style. None but the Eoyal family and relatives sat down 
to table. The Princess of Wales was hostess on this 
joyous occasion." 

At half-past nine o'clock, by the King's appointment the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, the State 
officers of the King's and Queen's households, and the several 
attendants of their Majesties and the Eoyal family, arrived, 
and were ushered into the Great Audience Chamber, 
at the head of which was the Princess, who lay in a State 
cradle, with the attendants. The sponsors were the King 

BE 2 



3GS THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

and Queen, and the Duke and Duchess of York. The 
names given were, Charlotte Caroline Augusta. 

After the christening, there were refreshments distri- 
buted to the assembled guests. 

Such was the brilliant dawn of a life which from the 
lirst was regarded as very precious to the English nation. 
Not long afterwards arose the unhappy differences between 
the parents of the Eo} r al babe which more or less must 
have had an influence on her, both morally and physically. 
Happily for the little Charlotte, the earlier years of her life 
were passed beneath the genial influence of a mother's love, 
that holiest of all earthly ties, as all who have known 
must admit, and certainly the most unselfish ! That 
Caroline of Brunswick doated on her child, her only one, 
is not surprising — she was a most engaging little creature, 
from every account. But though under her mother's per- 
sonal inspection, she was not wholly under her care, being 
provided with a separate establishment at Shrewsbury 
House, in the vicinity of the residence of the Princess of 
Wales, at Blackheath. There the little Princess was 
brought up by the Dowager Countess of Elgin, Miss 
Garth, and Miss Hunt. The visits of Caroline to her 
daughter were restricted to once a week, when she had at 
least the satisfaction of seeing that her own wishes were 
carried out as regarded her child. 

The journal of B. Porteous, Bishop of London, makes 
the following mention of the Princess Charlotte, at the 
age of five years : — 

" Yesterday, the Gth of August, 1801, I passed a very 
pleasant day at Shrewsbury House, near Shooter's Hill, 
the residence of the Princess Charlotte of Wales ; the 
day was fine, and the prospect extensive and beautiful, 
taking in a lar^e reach of the Thames, which was covered 



CHAELOTTE CAROLINE AUGUSTA. 369 

with vessels of various sizes and descriptions. We saw a 
good deal of the young Princess : she is a most capti- 
vating and engaging child ; and, considering the high 
station she may hereafter fill, a most interesting and im- 
portant one. She repeated to me several of her hymns 
with great correctness and propriety ; and on being told 
that when she went to Southend, in Essex (as she after- 
wards did for the benefit of sea-bathing), she would then 
be in my diocese, she fell down on her knees and begged 
my blessing. I gave it to her with all my heart, and with 
my earnest secret prayers to God that she might adorn 
her illustrious station with every Christian grace ; and 
that, if ever she became the Queen of this truly great and 
glorious country, she might be the means of diffusing 
virtue, piety, and happiness through every part of her 
dominions !" 

At a subsequent period her Eoyal Highness inquired of 
a clergyman what his opinion was of a death-bed, and how 
to make it easy : she said this had often been a subject of 
conversation with her grandfather, and that she desired to 
collect opinions about it. That she was much indebted to 
Lady Elgin for being the first to put Dr. Watts' hymns 
into her hand — most of which she could repeat from 
memory. 

The Baroness de Clifford succeeded the Countess of 
Elgin in the pleasing task of superintending her edu- 
cation. Afterwards, in 1809, Dr. John Fisher, Bishop of 
Salisbury, aided by the Rev. Dr. Nott, as sub-preceptor, 
were chosen by his Majesty to educate the young Princess, 
whom he regarded as a ward of the crown, and presump- 
tive heiress to the throne. On this plea she was removed 
from the immediate guardianship of her mother, about 
the period when the delicate investigation of the charges 



370 TIIE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

made by Sir John and Lady Douglas against the- 
Princess of Wales took place, and the aged King ad- 
vanced his own claim to be the protector of his young 
granddaughter, who by this change was thrown into 
the sphere of the more direct influence of Queen Char- 
lotte, for whom, either naturally or by instilled principle, 
she seemed to have entertained some dislike. The Queen 
secretly influenced the studies of Princess Charlotte, and, 
much to her credit, employed Mrs. Hannah More to write 
an elementary work for her advantage. 

The success of the young Princess in pursuit of mental 
attainments is developed by the following letter, the pro- 
duction of a very early age, and which has the merit of 
being authentic. It is addressed to the Countess of 
Albemarle : — 

"My ever dear Lady Albemarle, 

" I most heartily thank you for your very kind 
letter, which I hasten to answer. But I must not forget 
that this letter must be a letter of congratulation— yes, of 
congratulations the most sincere. I love you ; and there- 
fore there is no wish that I do not form for your happiness 
in this world. May you have as few cares and vexations 
as may fall to the lot of man ; and may you long be spared, 
and may you long enjoy the blessing of all others the 
most precious, your dear mother, who is not more pre- 
cious to you than to me. But there is a trifle which 
accompanies this, which I hope you will like ; and if it 
sometimes reminds you of me, it will be a great source of 
pleasure to me. I shall be most happy to see you, for it 
is long since I have had that pleasure. 

" Adieu, my dear Lady Albemarle, and believe me ever 
" Your affectionate and sincere Friend, 

"CHARLOTTE." 



CHARLOTTE CAEOLIKE AUGUSTA. 37i 

The allusion in the above effusion to the maternal care 
seems to be made directly from the heart of the young- 
writer. 

In 1807 Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Udney were sub- 
governesses to the Princess Charlotte. The most talented 
masters that could be procured were honoured with the 
office of assisting this Hoyal Princess in her progress. 
Her attainments were proportionate to the expectations 
of her family and the nation, and calculated to render her 
worthy of the throne she was expected to adorn. 

There were, however, times when this young heiress- 
presumptive would exhibit a high spirit, accompanied by 
waywardness' and caprice. It is even said that on one 
occasion the Bishop, her tutor, having mildly corrected 
her for some trifling inattention, she snatched off his wig, 
dashed it on the floor, and indignantly quitted the room ! 
Another time, too, when her aged grandmother, Queen 
Charlotte, was reminding her that a gift from herself — a 
handsome shawl — had not yet been acknowledged, the 
Princess took the shawl that minute from her shoulders, 
and put it into the fire ! These were odd little stories to 
circulate about a Poyal Princess, but if they really were 
true ones of Princess Charlotte, we are told that as she 
advanced in age her youthful sallies of spirit subsided, 
and she became both tractable and amiable. Very much 
to her praise was the amende honorable she made to the 
poor dancing-master, who, having ordered some music she 
disliked, received her refusal to dance. ISTo persuasion 
changing her resolution, he quitted the room. She ran 
after him, and requested his return — she would finish her 
lesson, which in fact she did ; but the Prince, thinking 
the master disagreeable from this circumstance, dismissed 
him, much to his daughter's chagrin, who would not rest 



o72 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

till she had procured his reinstatement in office, declaring 
that she alone was to blame in the matter. 

The following account, written by a person who sub- 
scribes himself D. Forbes, is extracted from the " Gentle- 
man's Magazine," 1817, and refers to a communication in 
1S01 : — " On leaving Paris for England, I was intrusted 
with a confidential communication to the Dowager Coun- 
tess of Elgin : which, in these days of suspicion, it was 
deemed imprudent to commit to paper ; and soon after our 
arrival in London, I accompanied my wife and daughter 
on a visit to her ladyship at a villa in Kent, where she 
resided with the Princess Charlotte, then in the ninth 
year of her age. 

" We had the honour of being introduced to her Royal 
Highness, who received us with that kind and amiable 
condescension which at every future period marked her 
character. The Princess particularly addressed herself to 
my daughter, as nearest her own age ; and was rather 
playfully conversing with her on some late event in Paris, 
when I accidentally used the word Emperor; upon 
which the Princess, addressing herself to me, ' Did you 
say the Emperor, Sir ? What Emperor ? Here we know 
only of two Emperors, those of Germany and Russia.' 
I replied, ' The Emperor of France.' ' Emperor of 
France !' exclaimed her Royal Highness, with a dignified 
look and altered manner. ' What, Bonaparte ! let me 
advise you never to call him Emperor in this country, for 
it will not go down.' I expressed my concern at having 
offended her Royal Highness ; particularly as I had just 
written a letter for the ' Gentleman's Magazine,' in 
which I had more than once given him that appellation. 
* 1 have nothing to do with your letter,' replied our 
noble-minded British Princess ; ' but let me repeat my 



CHAELOTTE CAROLINE AUGUSTA. 373 

advice, never again to give the Usurper of France that 
title in England — for, I once more assure you, it will not 
go down.' I promised obedience to the Royal command, 
and in two much later instances of kindness from our be- 
loved and lamented Princess, I was happy to know I had 
not lost her favour." 

Bryan Carly, a botanist of worth and respectability, 
was honoured by the condescending notice of her Boyal 
Highness when employed in the grounds of Lady de Clif- 
ford in Paddington Green. One of the instances was a case 
of instruments presented by her own hand, and the other 
a quarto Oxford Bible, in which the Princess wrote the 
following lines : — 

" I give this good book to Bryan Carly, as a mark of 
my sincere regard and esteem ; and which I hope he will 
always keep, as a remembrance of her who is very truly 
his friend and well-wisher, 

" Charlotte. 

" May 15, 1803." 

The Princess had not only a superior knowledge of the 
arts herself, but patronized them in others. There are 
innumerable anecdotes of her taste and genius, and also of 
her benevolence and goodness of heart. 

The late worthy Major made a highly laboured 

drawing, as it afterwards appeared, from a print of the 
"Misers," and coloured it from recollection. Mrs. Udney 
was prevailed upon to introduce the Major, who was an 
amatear, to her Eoj^al Highness the Princess Charlotte, at 
Warwick House, to afford him the honour of submitting 
his work as a copy of the picture at Windsor Castle. The 
drawing was much admired, but the amateur was embar- 
rassed, on being told by the young Princess that he had 



374 THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

mistaken the colouring : for one of the Misers was repre- 
sented in the colour worn by thex>ther, and the caps were 
also coloured vice versa. It should be mentioned, that 
her Boyal Highness had seen the picture but once, and 
that eight years preyiously to this interview. It is dan- 
gerous to rely upon the reminiscence of eight years 1 date ; 
but, unfortunately for the amateur, the Princess's memory 
was the most correct. To the honour of the Major, how- 
ever, it must be added, that he candidly told this story of 
himself. 

The health of the Princess Charlotte requiring sea- 
bathing, she passed three successive summers at Bognor, 
under the superintendence of her governess, Lady de 
Clifford. She bathed three or four times a- week, and 
might be seen driving about the neighbourhood in a 
little market-cart drawn by her four favourite grey ponies 
— a paternal present, which she had learnt to manage with 
grace and ability. At other times, she would stroll on the 
beach, in the simplest dress, not even disdaining to visit 
the humble cottages of the surrounding poor. 

During the residence of her Royal Highness at Bognor, 
where she had gone for the recovery of her health, an 
officer of long standing in the army was arrested for a 
small sum, and being at a distance from his friends, and 
unable to procure bail, he was on the point of being torn 
from his family, to be conveyed to Arundel gaol, The 
circumstance came to the knowledge of the Princess, who, 
in the momentary impulse of generous feeling, exclaimed, 
" I will be his bail!" Then, suddenly recollecting herself, 
she inquired the amount of the debt ; which, being told 
her, "There," said she, handing a purse with more than 
the sum, "take this to him. It is hard that he who has 



CHARLOTTE CAROLINE AUGUSTA. 375 

exposed his life on the field of battle should ever expe- 
rience the rigours of a prison." 

During the last illness of an old female attendant, for- 
merly nurse to the Princess Charlotte, she visited her 
ever}?- day, sat by her bedside, and with her own hand 
administered the medicine prescribed. When death had 
closed the eyes of this poor woman, instead of fleeing in 
haste from an object so appalling to the young and gay in 
general, the Princess remained, and gave utterance to the 
compassion she felt, on viewing the remains in that state 
from which Majesty itself cannot be exempt. A friend of 
the deceased, seeing her Royal Highness was much affected, 
said, " If your Royal Highness would condescend to touch 
her, perhaps you would not dream of her." " Touch her," 
replied the amiable Princess, " yes, poor thing, and kiss 
her too ! almost the only one I ever kissed, except my 
poor mother." Then, bending her graceful head over the- 
coffin of her humble friend, she pressed her warm lips to- 
the clay-cold cheek, while tears of sensibility flowed from 
her eyes.* 

When not at the seaside, the young Princess either- 
stayed with her father at Carlton House, or with the 
aged King at Windsor, with whom she was an especial 
favourite. On the day of the Jubilee, the Princess accom- 
panied her father to Windsor to offer her personal con- 
gratulations to her grandfather. 

In the spring of 1809, the Princess Charlotte caught 
the measles, during which illness she was visited by the 
Queen, who presented her with a superb service of china, 
manufactured on purpose, from drawings executed by 
Lady de Clifford, the governess of the Princess. 

* "Noble Deeds of Woman," by Mrs. Matthew Hall. 



37G THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

The intercourse with her mother, forbidden altogether 
in 1S06, had been renewed after the Princess of Wales 
appeared at Court, but with certain painful restrictions. 
Early in 1813 the Princess of Wales, finding her daughter, 
then residing at Warwick House, had been prevented by 
indisposition paying the visit she intended, communicated 
her intention of visiting her daughter at her own resi- 
dence to the Prince .Regent. She was informed, in reply, 
that the Princess would be able to see her on the 11th, 
at Kensington Palace, as usual. Subsequently, however, 
the visit of the Princess to her was forbidden, in conse- 
quence of the letter having been made public ; and in this 
•crisis the Privy Council, after several meetings for that 
subject, decided the mother and daughter should continue 
to meet, only under certain restrictions. 

During the time that the aged Duchess of Brunswick, 
her maternal grandmother, was in this country, where she 
had taken refuge after the death of her husband at the 
battle of Jena, the Princess Charlotte used to visit 
her at her mother's residence at Blackheath ; and the 
death of that amiable and unfortunate Princess, in 1813, 
was a severe blow both to the Princess of Wales and her 
daughter. 

Her affection for her mother, whom she was not always 
permitted to see, was unbounded, and the treatment that 
mother experienced from the Royal family gave her much 
pain. Filial affection is one of the most beautiful charac- 
teristics in the character of the Princess Charlotte. On 
one particular occasion, at a time when this maternal and 
filial intercourse was restrained, a most affecting interview 
took place by accident, the carriages of mother and daughte. 
meeting in Piccadilly. 

An unrestrained intercourse was at first allowed between 



CHARLOTTE CAROLINE AUGUSTA. 377 

Warwick House and Connaught -place, but not destined 
to continue. In 1814, Princess Charlotte's attempts to 
indulge in a closer correspondence with her mother 
than had previously been permitted excited the anger 
of the Prince Regent, who intimated, in rather harsh 
terms, his intention of removing her without delay to his 
own residence. It was on July the 12th, 1814, that all 
the Princess's household was suddenly dismissed, and her 
person confided for a short period to the Dowager Countess 
of Eosslyn and the Countess of Ilchester. Intimation 
was likewise given to her that she was to remove to Cran- 
bourne Lodge, and remain there under the superintendence 
of certain ladies, without whose acquiescence neither 
letters nor visits were to be received. The young Princess, 
however, contrived to quit Warwick House unperceived, 
stepped into a hackney-coach, and drove off to her mother's 
house at Blackheath. After some negotiations, and on 
receiving an assurance that she should not be immured 
nor treated with severity, she was eventually prevailed 
upon to trust herself to the Eegent's protection. The 
Princess of Wales soon afterwards went to Italy, and all 
restraint upon the Princess was then removed. 

During the year 1813, when Princess Charlotte was 
staying at Windsor, the aged King would often listen with 
delight to the performances of the Princess on the piano- 
forte. One day, being desirous of obtaining the opinion of 
the Bishop of Salisbury on a piece she had played badly, 
she inquired if he was pleased. Being answered in the 
negative, she ran up to him and seized his hand, saying — 
'*' Xow I know you are my friend ; for I have convinced 
myself that you do not flatter me when you are pleased to 
approve." 

At the age of eighteen the Princess was confirmed, the 



378 -THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

rite having been till then postponed by the wish of the 
King, her grandfather. 

On the 7th of January, the day of her coming of age, 
Warwick House was thronged with visitors, and every 
distinction due to such an occasion testified ; but the 
empty pageants of the world had less real enjoyment for 
the mind of the Princess Charlotte than the solace of a 
short visit to her Royal mother at Conn aught-place, who 
received her with the honours of one born to an empire, 
but dispensed immediately with form, and substituted the 
endearments of tenderness and affection. 

It was soon after she received the afflicting news of the 
death of her uncle, the Duke of Brunswick, at Quatre Bras, 
that Princess Charlotte went to Weymouth. Having ac- 
cepted an invitation to go on board the Leviathan man-of- 
war, on reaching that vessel she said to the lieutenant 
who escorted her party — " I resign the accommodation 
chair, provided to hoist us on deck, ^o the Bishop and the 
ladies ; do you, sir, take care of my clothes, and I will go 
up the ladder." 

On the 7th of January, 1815, the Queen gave a grand 
entertainment at Frogmore, in honour of the Princess 
Charlotte having completed her nineteenth year. 

One circumstance which does infinite credit to the 
original genius of the good Queen, and show T s her supe- 
riority of intellect, is the fact of her having established a 
printing press at Frogmore, where, among other literary 
treasure, are some important works, illustrated at a great 
expense. Adjoining the Library, which looks into the 
garden, is a room containing a printing press, and eveiy 
necessary apparatus, from which have issued some small 
pieces, under the immediate direction of her Majesty. 
Besides many single sheets on religious subjects, there 



CHAULOTTE CAKOLISTE AUGUSTA. 379 

Tiave been printed at this Royal press sets of cards, exhi- 
biting chronological abridgments of the History of Rome, 
Germany, France, Spain, and Portugal ; all of them ex- 
tremely well calculated to assist the memory and exercise 
the faculties of young persons. Two boohs only, of sixty 
copies each, have been printed there, and both in the year 
1812. The first, a small octavo of one hundred and eleven 
pages, bearing the title, " Translations from the Grerman, 
in Prose and Verse," is thus inscribed — " The gift of the 
Queen to her beloved daughters, Charlotte Augusta 
Matilda, Augusta Sophia, Elizabeth, Mary, and Sophia ; 
and, with her permission, dedicated to their Royal High- 
nesses, by Ellis Constantia Knight." The other is a 
foolscap quarto, of ninety pages, with the simple title of 
" Miscellaneous Poems." Both have an etching, byway of 
vignette, representing a garden view of the Library. All 
the translations in the first book are religious, consisting 
of prayers, meditations, and hymns ; the prose part being 
chiefly taken from the works of Dr. Seiler, whose explana- 
tory works on the Scriptures may be considered as models 
of rational and enlightened piety, which are equally cal- 
culated to improve the understanding and touch the 
heart. 

The volume of " Miscellaneous Poems" consists chiefly 
of fugitive pieces, which appear to have struck the fancy of 
the selector, who has also interspersed some original ver- 
sions from Italian and German writers. The following 
devotional piece, to be sung to Pleyel's Grerman Hymn, 
will speak for itself: — 

Oh ! my God, thy servant hear; 
■To my prayer incline thine ear ; 
When rudely morning streaks the sides, 
To thee I lift mine op'ning eyes. 



3S0 THE HOYAL PRINCESSES. 

When the sun conceals his head 
Beneath the western ocean's bed, 
Of thee, my God, I ask repose, 

To calm with sleep my pains and woes. 

"When I press the bed of death, 
Take, oh take, ni) r parting breath ! 
Save me, by thy gracious power, 
From all the horrors of that hour. 

When the righteous Judge, thy Son, 
Shall sit upon His glory's throne, 
And all th' angelic host shall see 
The dead arise from earth and sea— 

Oh ! then may I and mine rejoice 
To hear the trumpet's awful voice ; 
And, cloth'd in white robes, ever sing 
Hosannas to our heavenly King. 

From the visit of the Allied Sovereigns till May 18th, 
1815, Princess Charlotte had not been seen at Court. On 
that day she appeared, to the delight of all beholders, at 
the Queen's Drawing-room, arrayed in the most splendid 
jewels, " with a diamond tiara, shaded by the Prince's 
plume." On the 29th of the same month she gave her 
first evening party to the Queen and the Princesses at 
Carlton House. 

The young Prince of Orange, who had been educated 
in England, and long regarded by this nation as the in- 
tended husband of this Princess, was, on December 14th, 
formally introduced to her by her father ; after which, 
every means was taken to throw this youthful pair into 
each other's company. During the visit of the Allied 
Sovereigns to this country, when, on June 2nd, Princess 
Charlotte made her first appearance in public, the Prince 
of Orange paid her marked attention, formally handed her 
to her carriage, and afterwards dined with the Royal 
family at Carlton Hous?. .Not long after, all thoughts 



CHARLOTTE CAROLINE AUGUSTA. 381 

•of tin's match were entirely broken off by the decision of 
the Princess herself. It was in the year 1814 that the 
daughter of George IV. first honoured by her especial 
notice the Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, to whom she 
was united two years afterwards, at Carlton House, in 
May, 1S16. The consent of the Regent having been 
obtained, and every arrangement duly made, after the 
usual prefatory ceremonies the Great Seal of England was 
affixed, by order of John Lord Eldon, High Chancellor, to 
the instrument authorizing the marriage, which took place 
May 2nd, 1816, in the great Crimson Room at Carlton 
House. The ceremony was performed by his Grace the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, in the presence of her Majesty, 
the Prince Regent, the Dukes of York, Clarence, 
Kent, &c. Two days after, his Royal father-in-law was 
pleased to appoint his Serene Highness Leopold George 
Frederick, Prince of Saxe-Coburg of Saalfield, a General 
in the British army. The history of the present King of 
the Belgians is already too well known to require intro- 
duction here. 

Parliament voted 6Q,000£. for the outfit of the Royal 
pair, 10,000£. per annum as pin-money for the bride, and 
60,000Z. a-year during their joint and several lives. 

Princess Charlotte did not, it is said, look her best at 
the Drawing-room given on the occasion of her marriage. 
She stood apart in a window recess with her back to the 
light, looking deadly pale. A contemporary writer says, 
" Prmce Leopold was looking about him with a keen 
glance of inquiry, as if he would like to know in what 
light people regarded him. The Queen-Mother was, or 
pretended to be, in the highest possible spirits, and was 
very gracious to everybody. At the time I was in this 
courtly scene, and especially as I looked on the Princess 
c c 



3S2 THE EOYAL PKINCESSES. 

Charlotte, I could not help thinking of the Princess of 
Wales, and feeling very sorry and very angry at her cruel 
fate I dare say the Princess Charlotte was think- 
ing of the Princess of Wales, when she stood in the gay 
scene of to-day's Drawing-room, and that the remembrance 
of her mother, excluded from all her rights and privileges in 
a foreign country, and left almost without any attendants, 
made her feel very melancholy. I never can understand 
how Queen Charlotte could dare refuse to receive the 
Princess of Wales at the public Drawing-room, any more 
than she would any other lady, of whom nothing has been 
publicly proved against her character. Of one thing there can 
be no doubt, the Queen is the slave of the Regent." 

Before her marriage she was waited upon by one of the 
ministers, for the purpose of arranging some details re- 
specting her income. She did not consider his proposition 
sufficiently liberal, and addressed him in these words : — 
" My lord, I am heiress to the throne of Great Britain, 
and my mind has risen to a level with the exalted station 
I am to fill ; therefore, I must be provided for accordingly. 
Do not imagine that in marrying Prince Leopold I ever 
can, or will, sink to the rank of Mistress Coburg. En- 
tertain no such idea, I beg of you." 

To describe the happy and domestic life of the Princess 
Charlotte and her husband, at Claremont, would be to 
repeat that which has already been the theme of many a 
more gifted pen. A little poem on the death of this 
Princess commences — 

If perfect bliss, without alloy, 

To wedded love be given, 
Th' illustrious Charlotte felt that joy, 
Her home a little heaven ! 
There Fashion's idle slaves might blush to see 
Exalted rank from vice and folly free. 



CHARLOTTE CAROLINE AUGUSTA. 3S8 

When on the marriage of the Princess Charlotte she 
retired with her consort to Claremont, she found a poor 
old woman. Dame Bewley, who had formerly lived with 
al families who had successively occupied the estate, 
but now. worn down with age and infirmity, was unable 
to labour any longer. She was living on the occasional 
Ity of the mansion, and the small earnings of her 
aged husband. Xo sooner did the benevolent Princess 
of this, than she visited Dame Bewley, whom she 
found endeavouring to read an old Bible, the small print 
of which to her enfeebled eyes was almost un distinguish- 
able. The next clay the Princess sent her a new Prayer-Book 
an 1 Bible, of the largest print ; her shattered cottage was 
rebuilt, and she no longer lived on the precarious bounty 
of the successive Lords of Claremont. 

The Princess Charlotte's acts of beneficence were alike 
Qguished for their liberality and judiciousness. Her 
bounty was invariably preceded by inquiry, and never 
with her knowledge did it fall but on merit and virtue. 
Her Eoyal Highness carried this habit of discrimination 
even into the choice of her tradesmen. ]\Iore than one of 
them were indebted for the preference they obtained to 
the honourable anxiety of the Princess to indemnify them 
for the losses they had sustained through other less 
opulent branches of the Eoyal family. In the majority of 
cases, however, the motive for selection was of a more 
unmixed kind — the pure desire of doing the most good 
with the money which she expended. 

Fmding that all who had applied for the honour of 
serving her household with meat were opulent, her Eoyal 
Highness inquired if there were no other butchers in 
Esher. The steward at first replied he believed there were 
no others : but, on recollection, he said there was one man, 
c c 2 



3S-i THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

but that he was in such low circumstances that it would 
be impossible for him to undertake the contract. " I 
should like to see this man," said the Princess. He was, 
of course, though very unexpectedly, summoned to Clare- 
mont ; when he candidly confessed that his poverty was 
such as to make it impossible for him to send in such 
meat as he would wish to supply to the Hoyal household : 
he never even thought of offering himself as a candidate 
for the contract. " What sum," inquired the Princess, 
u would be necessaiy to enable you to go to the market 
upon equal terms with your more opulent fellow-trades- 
men?" The poor man was quite embarrassed at such a 
prospect before him, and overwhelmed with the Royal 
condescension. At length he named a sum. " You shall 
have it," said the amiable Princess, "and shall henceforth 
supply my household." 

This noble act of generosity rescued a deserving man 
from the struggles of poverty, and enabled him to make a 
comfortable provision for his family. 

In one of her Royal Highness' s walks with Prince Leo- 
pold, in November, 1816, she addressed a decent-looking 
person, w T ho was employed as a day-labourer, and said, 
"My good man, you have seen better days ?" " I have, 
your Hoyal Highness," answered the labourer; "I have 
rented a good farm ; but the change in the times has 
ruined me." At this reply she burst into tears, and ob- 
served to Prince Leopold, " Let us be grateful to Provi- 
dence for His blessings, and endeavour to fulfil the impor- 
tant duties required of us, to make all our labourers 
happy !" On her return home, she desired the steward to 
obtain a list of all the deserving objects of charity em- 
ployed in the house and park, and in the village of Esher, 
with the number of each family, &c. 



CHABLOTTE CAROLINE A1~GUSTA. 385 

A communication was then made to the household that 
it was the wish of their Koyal and Serene Highnesses to 
make them happy and comfortable, yet that there should 
be no waste of a single article of provisions at the several 
tables, but that all the remnants should be delivered to 
the Clerk of the Kitchen, who was appointed to distribute 
food to the several applicants who had tickets, in propor- 
tionate quantities. This regulation was cheerfully obeyed, 
and for nineteen months scarcely a crust of bread was 
wasted throughout the whole establishment. Instead of 
festivities on the Prince's birthday, in December, 150 1. 
was expended in supplying the honest and poor labourers 
with clothing ; and on the birthday of the Princess Char- 
lotte, in January, her Koyal Highness laid out the same 
sum in clothing the poor women. 

The Princess Charlotte always exerted her utmost in- 
fluence to promote the trade and commerce of her native 
country. Being informed of the distressed state of the 
weavers in Spitalfields, in the year 1817, she immediately 
ordered from a manufactory there a suite of elegant rich 
furniture, and a variety of rich silks for dresses, to 
the value of 1000Z., which were sent as presents to her 
Continental connexions. She explicitly announced to her 
establishment that she expected they would wear dresses 
of British manufacture only ; and at the same time her 
Koyal Highness insisted that her dressmakers should not 
introduce anything foreign into the articles she ordered, 
on pain of incurring her displeasure, and ceasing to be 
longer employed. On one occasion, an Indian shawl of 
the most exquisite workmanship, the value of which was 
estimated at three thousand guineas, being handed to her 
Koyal Highness, the Princess, having ascertained that the 
shawl had been clandestinely brought into the country, 



oS6 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

severely rebuked the person who had tendered it to her, 
and said, " In the first place, I cannot afford to give three 
thousand guineas for a shawl ; and in the second, a Nor- 
wich shawl, of the value of half-a-crown, manufactured by 
a native of England, would become me better than the 
costliest article which the loom of India ever produced."* 

In November, 1817, she gave birth to a still-born male 
child ; after which she was pronounced to be doing extremely 
well. On the following morning, however, she was attacked 
first with convulsions, afterwards with faintness, and her 
medical attendants being summoned, found her at the 
point of death. She received the tidings with calm 
resignation, and employed the small remainder of her time 
in testifying by signs her affection for the young and de- 
voted husband she was about to be parted from for ever. 

When informed of her child's death, shortly before her 
own, she said — " I feel it as a mother naturally should;'' 
adding, " It is the will of Grod ! praise to Him in all things !" 
She died November 6th, 1817, at the age of twenty-two. 

The grief caused hj her death was unparalleled in our 
annals : the stroke was private as well as public, and went 
home to the heart of every British subject. 

The afflicting news was officially communicated by the 
Secretary of State, thus : — 

" To the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor. 

" Whitehall, November 6th, 6 o'clock, a.m. 

" My Lord, 

" It is with the deepest sorrow that I inform 
your Lordship that her Eoyal Highness the Princess 
Charlotte expired this morning at half-past two o'clock. 
"I have the honour to be, &c, &c, 

" SlDMOUTH." 
* u Noble Deeds of Woman," by Elizabeth Starling. 



CHARLOTTE CAEOLIKE AUGUSTA. 387 

The following lines were written by Lord Byron on the 
removal and interment of the remains of her Royal High- 
. ness the Princess Charlotte : — 

Bright be the place of thy soul ! 

No lovelier spirit than thine 
E'er burst from its mortal control 

In the orbs of the blessed to shine. 
On earth thou wert all but Divine, 

As thy soul shall immortally be ; 
And our sorrow may cease to repine, 

When we know that thy God is with thee. 

Lord Byron. 

In person Charlotte was of u middle stature, stout, but of 
elegant proportions ; her eyes were blue, large, and intelli- 
gent ; her complexion unusually fair, the expression of her 
features dignified, and on the whole her appearance prepos- 
sessing. Her spirit was high, her temper irascible, and 
her inclination somewhat despotic ; but her affections warm, 
her mind cultivated, and benevolence unbounded. As she 
had been educated in sound moral, religious, and consti- 
tutional principles, it is thought that, on the throne, she 
might have exhibited, with some of the failings, many of 
the high and noble qualities of her favourite model Eliza- 
beth, the lion-hearted Queen." 

She was a pious, intelligent, energetic, and benevolent 
Princess, often visiting, and relieving in person the poor ; 
and her loss was deeply felt. Robert Hall preached a most 
eloquent sermon on her death.* 

By the death of this lamented Princess, and subsequent 
marriage of the Duke of Kent, her present Most Gracious 
Majesty has inherited the Crown of these realms. The 

* Maria Josepha Hale. 



3SS THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

amiable Queen Adelaide was so unfortunate as to lose two 
of her children in earliest infancy.* 

There are, indeed, two sister-Princesses, though farther 
removed from the throne by the line of succession ; 
daughters of the late Duke of Cambridge. 

The Princess Augusta Caroline Charlotte Elizabeth 
Mary Sophia Louisa, the eldest, was born at Hanover, 
July 19th, 1822. On June 28th, 1843, she was united 
in marriage to Frederick William Charles George Ernest 
Adolphus Gustavus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklen- 
burg-Strelitz. Her sister-Princess, Mary Adelaide Wil- 
helmina Elizabeth, second daughter of the Duke of Cam- 
bridge, was also born at Hanover, November 27th, 1833. 
She was married, 6th July, 1866, to Prince Teck. 

* Queen Adelaide had two daughters by "William IV., of whom the- 
eldest, Elizabeth Adelaide, born March 4th, 1819, lived only a few 
hours. Another daughter, who w T as christened Elizabeth, born pre- 
maturely December 2, 1820, died March 4th, 1821. 



389 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MARY LOUISA, 

PRINCESS ROYAL OF ENGLAND, 

AND NOW HER IMPERIAL AND ROYAL HIGHNESS, CROWN 
PRINCESS OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE AND OF PRUSSIA. 

Accession and marriage of the Queen— Birth of the Princess Royal — 
Her christening, and sponsors — Birth of the Prince of Wales — Visit 
of the King and Queen of the Belgians — Visit of the Queen to the 
Duke of Wellington — The Princess Royal's birthday — The Princess 
accompanies her parents to Scotland — Louis Philippe's present to 
her doll — Birth of Princess Louise — The Princess visits Dublin — 
Opening of the Coal Exchange — The Royal Family visit Belgium — 
Prince of Prussia comes to England — Great Exhibition of 1851— 
Princess Royal visits the Court of France — Her Confirmation — 
Prince Frederick William visits the Queen — Drawing-room on the 
Queen's birthday — Personal appearance of the Princess Royal — 
Fancy Ball at Hanover Square Rooms — Prince Frederick William 
visits Scotland— Peace commemoration — Serious accident to the 
Princess Royal — Goes on board the Resolute — Birth of Princess 
Beatrice— Prince Frederick William and Princess Royal sponsors 
to the Royal babe — Vote of the House of Commons on the 
Princess Royal's marriage — Handel Festival — Distribution of the 
Victoria Cross— She visits the Manchester Exhibition — Present at the 
opening of Parliament — Departure of Prince Frederick William — 
Princess Royal inspects the Leviathan — Her future household — 
Royal trousseau — Present to the bridesmaids — Festival performances 
— State Ball — Arrival of the Royal Bridegroom — Medals of the mar- 
riage — The Royal Wedding — Departure for Windsor— Grand ball at 
Buckingham Palace — Presents to the Royal pair — Prince Frederick 
William invested with the Order of the Garter — Departure of the 
married pair — Embarkation — Safe arrival at Antwerp — Reception 
there and at Brussels — Their arrival at Potsdam — Interview with 
Royal Family — Public entry into Berlin — Reception at the Palace — 
Residence of the young couple — Presentation of young ladies of 



390 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Berlin — Deputation with a present from the city — Court Ball — 
Celebrated Fackeltanz — Soiree given by tbe Prince of Prussia — 
Donations to the poor of Berlin and Potsdam from the Princess — 
Domestic life — Court etiquette — Birth of her first son — The Prin- 
cess's love of gardening — Visit of the Queen and Prince Consort — 
Death of the latter — Visit of the Princess to the Queen — Birth of 
other children to the Princess — Picture of her family life. 

These records of the Royal Princesses would naturally 
have included her present Majesty Queen Victoria, so 
long the brightest ornament of her country, under the 
character of a maiden Princess, had not her accession to 
the throne placed her biography among those of the 
Queens Regnant of these realms. To this fortunate cir- 
cumstance, and to her happy marriage afterwards with 
Prince Albert, we are indebted for the birth of five Royal 
Princesses, the representatives of their mother, and, like 
her, educated to become an ornament and glory to their 
sex and station. It is not our intention to enter minutely 
into the history of the several Royal daughters of her 
Majesty, but to glance briefly at the most prominent fea- 
tures which call for special attention. 

Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria was united 
to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, at St. James's Chapel, 
on the 10th of February, in the year 1840. 

The first-born child of this auspicious union was Victoria 
Adelaide Mary Louisa, Princess Royal of England, born 
at Buckingham Palace 21st of November, 1840. 

On February 10th the Princess Royal was christened in 
Buckingham Palace, with every state and solemnity be- 
fitting the occasion. A temporary altar, with the furniture 
from the Chapel Royal, was erected in the Throne Room 
in the place of the throne. 

The rite was performed in the presence of her Majesty, 
the Prince Consort, the King of the Belgians, the Queen 



YICTOEIA ADELAIDE 3IARY LOUISA. 391 

Dowager, the Duchess of Kent, the Archbishops of Can- 
terbury and York, the Bishops of London and Norwich, 
and the Dean of Carlisle, the Duchess of Sutherland, the 
late Duke and Prince George of Cambridge, the late Duke 
of Wellington, Viscount Melbourne, Lord John Russell, 
and others of the nobility. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury performed the service ; 
and when he came to that part for naming the Princess, 
her Majesty the Queen Dowager named her, Victoria 
Adelaide Mary Louisa. The late Duke of Wellington 
officiated as sponsor, on the part of the Duke of Saxe- 
Coburg and Goth a. The other sponsors were : the Queen 
Dowager, the Duchess of Gloucester, the Duchess of Kent, 
the King of the Belgians, and the Duke of Sussex. 

In the evening a grand dinner was given in the Picture 
Gallery, at which seventy-one guests were present. 

Prom her earliest infancy, the first-born of a Sovereign 
so beloved was naturally dear to the nation, and an object 
of tender interest to all who surrounded her. Of her Royal 
father it is related, that one day, when a gentleman was 
at the Palace who formerly had the honour of assisting 
him in his English studies, his Royal Highness inquired 
would he like to see the Princess ? The answer may be 
imagined. The Prince Consort himself brought his infant 
daughter from the nursery, with these words : " To you, I 
suppose, children seem nearly all alike ; but, to my eyes, 
this little girl appears more beautiful than any other in- 
fant I have ever seen !" 

On the 9th of November, 1841, the birth of the Prince 
of Wales gave an heir apparent to the throne ; to which 
till that period the Princess Royal had been presumptive 
heiress. 

The same year, June 23rd, the late King and Queen of 



392 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

the Belgians, with their infant son the Duke of Brabant, 
and suite, arrived at Buckingham Palace, on a visit to the 
Queen. 

Her Majesty and the Prince Consort, accompanied by 
the Royal children, quitted Windsor on November 10th, 
1842, for Walmer Castle, Deal, in order to pass a few weeks 
with the late Duke of Wellington. The 21st of that 
month being the birthday of the Princess Royal, was 
celebrated by general rejoicings and illuminations. 

The Princess Alice Maude Mary was born in 1843 : 
Prince Alfred, now Duke of Edinburgh, in 1844. On 
May 26th, 1846, Princess Helena Augusta was added to 
the little group. 

The Princess Royal accompanied her Majesty and the- 
Prince Consort, in September, 1844, when they left Windsor 
Castle for Scotland. The Royal party landed at Dundee, 
and visited Blair Athol, the castle of Lord Glenlyon, where 
they remained some time to enjoy the beauties of the 
surrounding scenery. 

It is necessary here to mention the mysterious chest 
which arrived in London in February, 1846, bearing upon 
it the Royal arms of France. It was addressed to the 
"Doll of the Princess Royal," and contained a complete 
trousseau, suited for either morning or evening costume, 
and two splendid ball toilettes, manufactured by the most 
eminent Parisian modiste, all designed with the utmost 
delicacy and taste. A jewel-case, with diamonds of the 
purest water, accompanied this unique present from the 
late King Louis Philippe to " the Doll of her Royal High- 
ness the Princess Royal of England." 

The education of the Princess Royal has been such as 
might be expected from the well-known character of her 
Royal parents. It has been affirmed that no man ever 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MAET LOUISA. 393 

arrived at greatness and distinction who might not trace 
his career back to the principles instilled by the maternal 
care in infancy. If man be then so in need of moulding 
from that tender hand, how much more the woman ! 

In connexion with this subject, the nation must ever 
cast back its retrospective glance in grateful acknow- 
ledgment to the late Duchess of Kent : and when that 
is remembered, we no longer wonder that in the fair 
daughters of the youthful Eoyal family are discernible 
those many traces of virtue and goodness requisite to 
adorn their sex and station. The tastes and pursuits of 
the young scions of Eoyalty have ever been, by judicious 
care, directed to those points in science and art calculated 
to tend to their improvement and advantage ; and while 
the ornamental accomplishments have been studied, we 
cannot wonder that the more valuable qualities of mind 
and heart have ever taken the precedence. 

At this time was born, March 18, 1848, Louise Caro- 
line Alberta, the fourth daughter of her Majesty, who was 
baptized in the Chapel of Buckingham Palace.^ 

In the autumn of 1818, the Queen and Prince Consort, 
with the Princess Royal and other members of their 
youthful family, embarked for Scotland, where they landed 
at Aberdeen, and proceeded thence to Balmoral Castle. 

In her ninth year, Princess Victoria visited Dublin, 
Cork, &c, with the Queen and the Prince Consort, the 
Prince of Wales, and Princess Alice. 

The Princess Royal's first visit of state in England was 
on the occasion of the opening of the Coal Exchange, 
London, at which time she was ten years of age. In the 

* Princes Arthur and Leopold, the two younger brothers of the 
Princess Royal, were born, the former, May 1st, 1850, the latter, May 
7th, 1853. 



394 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

first of three carriages rode the Prince Consort, Princess 
Royal, and Prince of Wales, with the Duke of Norfolk, 
Master of the Horse. On arriving at Whitehall-stairs, 
where the Royal barge, the Queen's shallop, and the 
Admiralty barge, were drawn up close in-shore, they 
embarked at half-past twelve o'clock, amidst the enthu- 
siastic greetings of the multitude, by whom, as they pro- 
ceeded amid waving handkerchiefs and streaming banners, 
they were received with continued expressions of loyal 
affection. At Custom House Quay the procession was 
formed. After a grand dejeuner, the Royal children 
were conducted to the Prince Consort's table, who rose, 
and led them forward to the body of the Hall, where they 
were received with great cheering. At three o'clock the 
Royal party took their departure. 

The Princess Royal and Prince of Wales accompanied 
the Queen and Prince Consort in August, 1850, on their 
visit to the Court of King Leopold, in Belgium, which 
visit was repeated in the summer of 1852. 

The union which has happily been accomplished be- 
tween the Princess Royal of England and Prince Fre- 
derick William of Prussia, had been long and ardently 
desired by the members of both Royal families. So early 
as April, in the year 1848, Prince William Frederick 
Louis of Prussia, father of Prince Frederick William, 
during a visit paid to the Queen of England at Osborne 
is said to have entertained for the first time the idea of 
the union of his son with the Princess Royal, then but a 
child — yet who was so interesting and attractive in her 
manners, that she became quite a favourite with her 
future father-in-law. Prince Frederick William, who 
was born in 1831, was then in his seventeenth year, and 
was ten years older than his future bride. His Royal 



YICTOEIA ADELAIDE MABY LOUISA. 395 

parents had been several times in England. The 
Prince of Prussia was brother and next heir to the 
throne of Frederick William IV., the reigning King. # 
As Prince Frederick William is an only son, he is 
heir - presumptive to the Crown, and it may be 
expected, in ruling over the dominions of Frederick 
the Great, that he will display his virtues and talents. 
Fortunately for Prince Frederick William, his early hopes 
have not been doomed to be crushed, as were, those of his 
renowned relative ; but a prospect of domestic happiness, 
as well as a path of future greatness, opened to his view. 

One of the visits made by the Prince and Princess of 
Prussia to this country was on the opening of the Great 
Exhibition, when they were accompanied by the young 
Prince : at that interesting ceremony the Princess Poyal 
was also present. The Prince held a commission in the 
Regiment of Prussian Foot Guards, and enjoyed other 
military appointments. On his marriage he was promoted 
by the King to the rank of Major- General. He is a very 
fine-looking man, tall, and of a dignified and graceful 
deportment ; his manners are gracious and conciliatory, 
and he is very popular with both army and people. 

On the occasion of the visit of her Majesty the Queen, 
with the Prince Consort, to the Court of France, the 
Princess Eoyal, with her brother, the Prince of Wales, 
accompanied her parents. They embarked at Osborne, 
August 18th, 1855, and arrived safely at Boulogne, where 
the appearance of the Poyal squadron was announced by 
the discharge of cannon from the heights and the batteries 
on shore, by volleys of musketry from the troops, and the 
shouts of a multitude of spectators. 

" A handsome pavilion had been erected on the pier, in 

* On his death, Jan., 1861, the Prince succeeded him as William I. 



396 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

which the Emperor, surrounded by a brilliant suite, 
awaited the approach of his guests. The instant the Eoyal 
yacht ran alongside, the Emperor hastened on board, and 
saluted the Queen, kissing her hand and both cheeks ; he 
then shook hands with Prince Albert, the Prince of 
Wales, and the Princess Royal, and with every mark of 
joy and welcome conducted them to the pavilion. The 
Royal party immediately proceeded in carriages to the 
railway station, the Emperor riding on one side the Queen's 
carriage, and Marshal Magnan on the other." 

On arriving at St. Cloud, the Royal party found the 
entire Palace placed at the disposal of her Majesty, who 
was received by the Empress, the Princess Mathilde, the 
ladies and officers of the household, and the high officers 
of state. 

The memorable event of the betrothal of Prince Frede- 
rick William to the object of his affections, is thus men- 
tioned by Queen Victoria herself in her published 
Journal : — 

" September 29, 1855. 

" Our dear Victoria was this day engaged to Prince 
Frederick William of Prussia, who had been on a visit 
to us since the 14th. He had already spoken to us on the 
20th, of his wishes ; but we were uncertain, on account of 
her extreme youth, whether he should speak to her him- 
self, or wait till he came back again. However, we felt it 
was better he should do so, and during our ride up Craig- 
na-han this afternoon, he picked a piece of white heather, 
(the emblem of " good-luck"), which he gave to her ; and 
this enabled him to make an allusion to his hopes and 
wishes, as they rode down Glen-Gernoch, which led to this 
happy conclusion." 

On Thursday, March 15, 185G, her Majesty and the 



TICTOETA ADELAIDE MART LOUISA. 397 

Princess Royal visited the ruins of Covent Garden Theatre, 
which had been destroyed by fire. The Royal party ap- 
proached the theatre by way of Hart-street, and alighted 
in Princes-place, in which her Majesty's private entrance 
was situated. There they were received by Mr. Gye, the 
lessee of the building, and were conducted to a position 
which commanded an advantageous view of the ruins. 
The wall under which her Majesty stood when she 
visited the ruins soon after fell to the ground, showing 
that the Queen must have run a great risk while she re- 
mained there. 

The Confirmation of her Royal Highness the Princess 
Royal, took place in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle, 
March 26th, 1856. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Oxford, 
Lord High Almoner ; the Bishop of Chester, Clerk of the 
Closet ; the Dean of Windsor, Resident Chaplain to the- 
Queen ; the Rev. Lord Wriothesley Russell, Deputy Clerk 
of the Closet in Waiting, and the Rev. H. G. Ellison, 
Vicar of Windsor, took their seats within the rails of the 
communion-table shortly before twelve o'clock. 

The Ministers and other company invited to witness 
the ceremony assembled in the Green Drawing-room 
shortly before twelve o'clock, the Ladies and Gentlemen 
in Waiting on the Queen and the Royal family assembling 
in the corridor ; the company were then conducted to their 
seats in the Chapel. 

About twelve o'clock the Princess Royal entered the 
Chapel with her father, the Prince Consort, who placed 
her in a chair in front of the communion-table. Her 
Majesty the Queen, and his Majesty the King of the 
Belgians followed, together with the rest of the Royal and 
illustrious personages. The King of the Belgians, the 

D D 



398 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

godfather of the Princess Royal, was conducted to a seat 
near the Princess under the pulpit ; and in a line with the 
King were the Duchess of Kent, godmother of the Prin- 
cess ; the Duchess of Cambridge, and the Princess Mary, 
the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Edward of Saxe- Weimar, 
Prince Ernest of Leiningen, and Prince Victor of Hohen- 
lohe. The Queen was seated opposite to the King of the 
Belgians, while the Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales, 
the Princess Alice, Prince Alfred, Princess Helena, and 
Princess Louise were placed opposite the other members 
of the Royal family. The great officers of State and the 
Ladies and Gentlemen in Waiting took their seats im- 
mediately behind the Royal family. The remainder of 
the company invited occupied pews on either side of the 
Chapel. 

The Princess Royal wore a rich white silk glace dress, 
with five flounces pinked, the body richly trimmed with 
white ribbon and Mechlin lace. 

The ceremony commenced by a hymn, sung by the 
gentlemen and boys of the Royal Chapel of St. George. 

The Bishop of Oxford read the Preface, and the 
Archbishop of Canterbury performed the ceremony and 
concluded the service, the Princess kneeling before his 
Grace. The Archbishop at the close delivered an exhor- 
tation, and part of the 268th hymn was then sung by the 
choir. 

The ceremony being ended, the Queen and the King of 
the Belgians, the Princess Royal and the Prince Consort, 
with the Royal family, quitted the Chapel and entered the 
Green Drawing-room, where her Majesty received the con- 
gratulations of the distinguished company present. 

The Princess Royal was with her Majesty and the 
Prince Consort when they proceeded to St. James's Palace 



YICTORIA ADELAIDE MAEY LOUISA. 399 

to hold the first Drawing Boom in the season, April 10, 
1856. On this occasion of her debut, the Princess Royal 
wore a dress of rich white glace silk, with three skirts of 
white tulle, looped up with bunches of corn-flowers, and 
rich white satin ribbon. The body was trimmed with a 
wreath of corn-flowers, ribbon, and blonde. The train was 
of rich white moire antique, trimmed with bouillons of 
tulle and corn-flowers, her head-dress was formed of a 
wreath of corn-flowers, feathers, and lappets. 

The arrival of Prince Frederick William, as a suitor for 
the hand of the Princess Royal, on May 20th, 1856, was 
a circumstance of uncommon interest in the Court circles, 
and indeed to the whole country. The Prince landed at 
Dover on the night of Tuesday, and on the following morn- 
ing travelled to Portsmouth, where his Royal Highness 
was met by the Queen and Prince Consort, accompanied 
by the Princess Royal. The illustrious party proceeded 
together to Osborne. 

On Monday, the Queen and Prince Consort, with the 
Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, and the Princess Royal, 
crossed over in the Fairy, and proceeded up the South- 
ampton Water to the spot appointed for the erection of 
the Royal Victoria Hospital, of which her Majesty laid the 
first stone. After the ceremony was over, the Royal party 
re-embarked in the Fairy, and returned to Osborne. 

The following account has been given of the Princess 
Royal as she appeared at the next Drawing Room, held in 
honour of her Majesty's birthday, in May, 1856 : — 

" I was scarcely prepared to behold in her a fine grown 
woman, taller by a couple of inches than her mother, and 
carrying herself with the ease and grace of womanhood. 
It is no stretch of loyalty or courtesy to call the Princess 
Royal pretty. She is perfectly lovely. The regularity of 

D D 2 



400 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

her features is perfect. Her eyes are large, and full of in- 
telligence, imparting to her face that sort of aspect which 
indicates good-humour. The nose and mouth are deli- 
cately and exquisitely formed, the latter giving the effect 
of great sweetness. The Princess is more like her father 
than her mother ; she is like the Queen in nothing but the 
nose ; in all other respects she is a female image of her 
father." 

June 6th, 1856, the Princess Royal and Prince Frede- 
rick William of Prussia went to a fancy ball, at the 
Hanover-square Rooms, with her Majesty and the Prince 
Consort, for the benefit of the Royal Academy of Music. 
On this occasion, when the splendour of dress and di- 
versity of costume was remarkable, the young Princess 
Royal surprised every beholder b} r the elegant simplicity 
of her white robe and wreath of flowers. 

The Prince's first acknowledged visit as the intended 
husband of the Princess Royal, who had then scarcely 
attained her fifteenth year, caused no small sensation in 
England. It was just at the close of the Russian war 
when the Prince arrived at Aberdeen, and proceeded by 
the Dundee Railway on a visit to Balmoral. He was 
received at Banchory by the Prince Consort, and on the 
following day the Queen and Prince, accompanied by 
Prince Frederick William, visited the camp of the Forbes 
Highlanders, on the banks of the Dee. 

At the time of the Peace Commemoration, in June, 
1856, a few minutes before the commencement of the fire- 
works in the Green Park, the Queen, Prince Consort, the 
members of the Royal family, Prince Frederick William 
of Prussia, and other persons of rank, took their seats in 
a pavilion erected on the north end of Buckingham Palace, 
facing the Park, to witness the display of fireworks. 



VICTORIA. ADELAIDE MARY LOUISA. 401 

The Peace Festival at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, 
was honoured by her Majesty's presence, and that of the 
Prince Consort, the Princess Royal, and other members of 
the Royal family. 

The Princess Royal was prevented accompanying her 
Majesty and the Prince Consort to the ball at Grosvenor 
House, given by the Marquis and Marchioness of West- 
minster, on June 26, 1856, by an accident which might 
have been attended even with fatal consequences. The 
ball was to take place on Thursday : about midnight on 
the previous Tuesday, the Princess was engaged in her 
boudoir, and was in the act of lighting a wax-taper, when 
a spark ignited the sleeve of a gauze dress worn by her 
Royal Highness ; the flames spread rapidly, and in an 
instant the whole sleeve, from the wrist to the shoulder, 
was in a blaze. Her Royal Highness manifested remark- 
able presence of mind under the trying circumstances, and 
succeeded in extinguishing the flames before they had com- 
municated with the body of the dress. Her arm was 
much burnt, and she was in consequence confined to the 
Palace,-^so that she was unable to accompany her Royal 
parents to the ball at Grosvenor House, as originally in- 
tended. 

In August, 1856, the Queen and Prince Consort, accom- 
panied by five of the Royal children, made an excursion 
along the coast as far as Plymouth, and on their return 
paid a visit to Mount Edgecumbe and Salisbury. 

In December, 1856, during their sojourn at Osborne, 
the Princess Royal, in company with her Royal parents, 
the Prince of Wales, and Princess Alice, went on board 
the Resolute, then in Cowes harbour. This stout 
old ship had .recently arrived from an Arctic cruise, after 
having been conveyed into a port of the United States, 



402 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

and was escorted thence by an American naval force, and 
was the first relic that reached our shores of the many 
expeditions which have been despatched in search of Sir 
John Franklin. The English and American flags de- 
corated the vessel, and when the Queen set her foot on 
deck, the Eoyal Standard was hoisted at the main. The 
Eoyal party went over the ship, and examined her 
with manifest interest. 

The birth of the ninth child of her Majesty and the 
Prince Consort took place on April 14th, 1857. The 
ceremonial of the christening was performed in the fol- 
lowing month. The sponsors were the Duchess of Kent, 
the Princess Eoyal, and Prince Frederick William of 
Prussia. The sacred rite was performed in the Private 
Chapel of Buckingham Palace : the Eoyal Princess was 
named Beatrice Mary Victoria. 

The death of the aged Duchess of Gloucester took 
place about the same period as the opening of the Arts 
Exhibition at Manchester, to the great affliction of the 
whole of the Eoyal family. 

The indispensable consent of the King of Prussia to 
the marriage of his nephew with the Princess Eoyal of 
England having been formally demanded, and granted 
by his Majesty, in the presence of the whole Court, the 
following message was communicated on the 18th of 
Mav, 1857, to the House of Commons : — " Her Majesty 
having agreed to a marriage proposed between the 
Princess Eoyal and his Eoyal Highness Prince Frederick 
William of Prussia, has thought fit to communicate the 
same to the House of Commons. Her Majesty is fully 
persuaded that this marriage cannot but be acceptable to 
all her faithful subjects ; and the many proofs which 
the Queen has received of the affectionate attachment 



YICTOKIA ADELAIDE MARY LOUISA. 403 

of this House to her Majesty's person and family, 
leave her no room to doubt of the concurrence and 
assistance of this House in enabling her to make such a 
provision for her eldest daughter, with a view to the 
said marriage, as may be suitable to the dignity of the 
Crown and the honour of the country." The House sub- 
sequently passed an almost unanimous vote, granting a 
sum of 40,000Z. as an outfit, and settled an annuity of 
8000Z. a year for life on her Royal Highness. 

The yearly allowance of 8000£. voted by the Parliament 
was to be paid quarterly to a commissioner named by her 
Majesty, who was to receive it to the sole use of the 
Princess. Their Eoyal Highnesses were precluded, either 
separately or conjointly, from making any dispositions 
with regard to this amount, which was to be paid to the 
proper hands of the Princess herself, and her sole receipt 
to be taken for it. 

The provision made by the King of Prussia for the 
future heir to the throne, was strictly in accordance with 
the regulations already existing in the ministry of the 
Eoyal house. By this, Prince Frederick William was to 
receive an appanage of 92,000 thalers (13,800Z.) a year, to 
be increased when, in the due course of nature, his uncle, the 
then King, should die and he thus become Crown Prince. 
In the marriage contract it is stated that the expenses of 
the joint establishment of their Royal Highnesses shall be 
defrayed out cf the above-mentioned sum : the interest, 
however, of the marriage portion which her Majesty gave 
to the Princess Victoria — viz., 40,000/. — is to go in aid of 
the same. The aforesaid capital to be handed over to 
a commissioner appointed by the King of Prussia, who is 
to pay it into the Crown Treasury, and give security for 
it on the Crown Trust Fund, until all arrangements are 



404 THE EOYAL PltlKCESSES. 

completed. The interest of the 40,000?. to be paid over 
every six months to a commissioner named by their Eo}'al 
Highnesses and in the event of the decease of either, to 
go to the survivor. 

The ratification of the marriage treaty between the 
Eo} r al pair was engrossed here, in duplicate, on parchment, 
for the signatures of Queen Victoria and King Frederick 
William IV. The text was threefold— viz., in English, 
French, and German. It was signed at the Foreign 
Office by the Prussian Minister and by Lord Clarendon, 
and also by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord 
Chancellor, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

On the 17th of June, 1857, the Queen and her dis- 
tinguished guests attending the celebration of the Handel 
Festival at the Ciystal Palace, the Eoyal party arrived a 
little before one o'clock. With the Queen were the 
Archduke Maximilian of Austria, the Prince Consort, the 
Princess Royal, and Prince Frederick William of Prussia, 
Princess Alice, and the Prince of Wales. On this occa- 
sion, " as soon as the audience had settled themselves for 
the concert, a photograph of the whole scene, with the 
Eoyal box as a centre, was rapidly taken ; and, before the 
first part of the Oratorio was over, well-finished copies 
framed and glazed, were laid before her Majesty and her 
guests.' ' Nearly 18,000 persons were present. 

When, on June 26th, 1857, her Majesty went to Hyde 
Park to distribute the Victoria Cross of the Order of 
Valour, the Princess Eoyal was present, and also Prince 
Frederick William of Prussia: the latter wore a blue 
uniform, faced with silver. 

The visit of her Majesty to the Great Art Treasures 
Exhibition, Manchester, took place in August, 1857. On 
this occasion the cortege consisted of six carriages, in the 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MART LOUISA. 405 

last of which were seated the Queen, the Prince Consort, 
Prince Frederick William of Prussia, the Princess Koyal, 
and her sister. 

The Princess Royal has always been very dear to the 
cottagers on the Balmoral estate, whose humble homes she 
was accustomed to visit, to inform herself of the various 
details of lowly Scottish life. When the last visit to 
Balmoral was paid, the dependents were invited up to the 
lawn to bid farewell to her Boyal Highness. The 
Princess Royal's feelings entirely overcame her on this 
occasion, and it became necessary for the Prince Consort 
to bid them adieu in her name, she being unable to make 
her appearance. 

On the 21st of November, 1857, the anniversary of the 
birth of the Princess Eoyal, the band of the Eoyal Horse 
Guards played a cor ale on the south terrace of Windsor 
Castle, at seven o'clock in the morning. The garrison of 
Windsor, consisting of the Royal Horse Guards and the 
second battalion of the Fusileer Guards, paraded in the 
quadrangle of the Castle to witness the ceremony of the 
presentation of the Victoria Cross by her Majesty. 

The Queen and Prince Consort, accompanied by the 
Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, Princes Alfred, 
Arthur, Leopold, Princesses Alice, Helena, Louise, Prince 
Frederick William of Prussia, and Prince Leiningen, 
entered the quadrangle soon after eleven o'clock. The 
Duke of Cambridge, Major-General Sir G. Wetherall, and 
the Equerries in Waiting, attended her Majesty. The 
Queen was received with a Royal salute, and went down 
the ranks ; after which the presentation of the crosses took 
place. The regiments then marched back in slow and 
quick time, wheeled into line, presented arms, and gave 
three cheers in honour of the Princess Royal's birthday. 



406 THE EOYAL PEINCESSES. 

The Duchess of Kent was in the Castle, and witnessed 
the ceremony. 

On the 3rd of December her Majesty opened the Parlia- 
ment in person, with the usual procession. The Princess 
Royal preceded the Queen to the House of Lords, accom- 
panied by Princess Mary of Cambridge, and witnessed the 
ceremony ; Prince Frederick William of Prussia was also 
present. The Royal party afterwards went to St. James's 
Palace and visited the Chapel Royal, which had been 
thoroughly altered and refitted for the occasion of the 
approaching marriage. 

A deputation from the Merchant Taylors, on the 3rd of 
December, was admitted to an interview with Prince 
Frederick William, at Buckingham Palace, and presented 
to his Royal Highness the freedom of that ancient and 
honourable Company. The Prince left Buckingham Palace 
the same evening, on his return to the Continent, where 
he arrived in safety, after having encountered a very severe 
passage. 

The young Prince of Prussia, while in England, had 
visited the Leviathan, the wonder of the day. After his 
departure, the Princess Royal herself went to inspect that 
vessel, on Saturday, December 5th. The Royal visitor 
was received by Mr. Brunei and Mr. Yates, and conducted 
over the entire yard, when all the ponderous apparatus for 
lowering the huge mass, the greatest that has ever yet 
been moved, were duly explained. The enormous solidity 
and strength of the bases required to resist the backward 
strain of the hydraulic presses seemed to amaze her Royal 
Highness, who examined and inquired into every detail, 
inspecting the hydraulic machines, the construction of the 
cradles, and the double purchases, which, working from 
the land to the moored barges, dragged the vessel towards 



YICTOBIA ADELAIDE MAET LOUISA. 407 

the river. While the Princess remained, it was unfortu- 
nately impossible to move the vessel ; but this loss was 
almost compensated by all the apparatus for moving her 
being quite at rest, and so enabling her to approach it 
nearly. Her Royal Highness quitted the yard shortly 
before one o'clock, and returned immediately afterwards to 
Windsor. 

On the 18th of December, Mr. Leonard Wyon was 
honoured with a, final sitting by the Princess Royal at 
Osborne, for the medal commemorative of the approaching 
marriage. The obverse bears the heads of the bride and 
bridegroom in relief, with the inscription — " Victoria, 
Princess Royal of England — Frederick William, Prince of 
Prussia." The reverse is a garland of roses, myrtle, and 
orange blossom, with the date of the marriage — " January 
25th, 1858." The medal was struck in gold, silver, and 
bronze, the value of the first being forty, and of the second, 
three guineas. 

The ladies and gentlemen of the Princess Royal's 
future household were invited to come over to the Royal 
wedding by her Majesty, and entered on their duties 
about the Princess as soon as the nuptials were concluded. 
They were the Count and Countess Perponcher, the Cham- 
berlain and Mistress of the Robes, and the Countesses 
Marie zu Lynar and Wally von Hohenthal, Ladies in 
Waiting. 

The Royal trousseau was composed of every kind 
of article requisite for the wardrobe of a Princess — 
silks, velvets, satins, lace, Indian shawls, and stuffs, &c, 
manufactured by the most eminent firms, and prepared by 
the first hands in the art of millinery. Even in this depart- 
ment the innate benevolence of her Majesty was ex- 
tended to the children of the Royal Schools at Windsor 



40S THE ROYAL PRIKCESSES. 

by large orders, and to a society formed during the Crimean 
war for employing the wives of the soldiers of the Guards 
in plain needlework. 

Her Majesty the Queen is said to have presented each of 
the bridesmaids of the Princess Eoyal with a diamond 
and turquoise ornament. Those ladies who occupied a 
prominent position in the ceremonial of the nuptials had 
a similar distinction conferred on them. Fourteen beau- 
tiful bracelets of the same pattern and with similar jewels 
were manufactured for the event, besides a number of 
brooches and pins. These latter contained on a shield of 
blue enamel the cipher of the Princess in diamonds, sur- 
mounted by the Prussian eagle, also in brilliants. 

The coat of arms peculiar to the Princess Royal had 
been obtained from competent authority, bearing the arms 
of Great Britain and Ireland on a shield chancre, and the 
arms of Coburg Gotha on a shield of pretension, sur- 
mounted by the crown peculiar to a Princess of the Blood 
Eoyal. This was her coat of arms as an unmarried 
Princess. In that, however, which she has assumed since 
her marriage, her arms are emblazoned on a lozenge 
or oval shield (which in English heraldry is given only to 
maids and widows), and surrounded by a wreath of oak 
leaves. 

The Prince's birthday, October 18th, had been at first 
fixed upon for the solemnization of the Royal nuptials ; 
eventually the day was changed — when it was finally 
settled to be the 25th of January. 

The guests invited to England by her Majesty to be 
present on the occasion were, his Majesty the late King 
of the Belgians, their Royal Highnesses the Duke of 
Brabant and the Count of Flanders, their Royal High- 
nesses the Prince and Princess of Prussia, Prince Frederick 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MART LOUISA. 409 

Charles, nephew of the King and son of Prince Charles, 
Prince Albert, brother of the King, Prince Charles Albert 
(son of Prince Albert), Prince Adalbert, cousin of the 
King, and the Prince of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen : their 
Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Baden* and 
Prince William of Baden (brother of the Grand Duke) , 
and their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of 
Saxe-Coburg. There were also present their Serene 
Highnesses Prince Edward of Saxe- Weimar, the Prince 
and Princess of Hohenlohe Langenburg, Princess Feodore 
and Prince Victor of Hohenlohe, and the Prince of 
Leiningen. 

Four " Festival Performances" were given in honour of 
the approaching nuptials. For the accommodation of the 
Queen and her Royal guests, about a third of the ground 
tier of Her Majesty's Theatre was converted into one 
spacious box, handsomely adorned, and the concert-room, 
into which it opened, fitted up as a banquet-hall, with 
most tasteful decorations. 

Each of the four performances was intended to repre- 
sent a department of dramatic art. The first of the series 
took place Tuesday, January 19th, and was devoted to 
tragedy, followed by a short farce. 

The pieces selected were Macbeth, preceded by Spohr's 
Overture to Macbeth, with Locke's incidental music; and 
the National Anthem at the conclusion of the tragedy. 
The farce performed was Oxenford's Twice Killed. 

The second Festival Performance took place on Thurs- 
day, January 21st. The pieces selected were Balfe's Bose 
of Castile, and Mr. C. Selby's farce of The Boots at the 
Swan. 

* The Duke of Baden was prevented by illness from coming to 
England, and his death occurred before the Royal marriage. 



410 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

On Wednesday evening, the 20th January, the Queen 
gave a State Ball, to which about eleven hundred persons 
were invited. Her Majesty received her distinguished 
guests in the White Drawing Room. 

The Princess Ro} r al, rendered so much more interesting 
than ever by the circumstances in which she was placed, 
was elegantly attired for the ball in a robe of India 
muslin, white spotted with gold, looped up with bouquets 
of white roses and variegated leaves : the Princess wore 
round her head a wreath of the same flowers and leaves. 
The ornaments were diamonds. 

On the 21st a Review took place at Woolwich, which 
was visited b} r his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, 
and the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, both in High- 
land costume. The Royal visitors afterwards visited the 
Arsenal. 

On the 22nd the Queen, Princess Royal, and Prince 
and Princess of Prussia, visited the Chapel Royal, when 
her Majesty pointed out the place where she wished her 
own Chair of State should be on the morning of the mar- 
riage — on the left-hand side of the altar. On either side 
of her Majesty's chair were placed five crimson velvet 
stools, richly embroidered with gold lace — the three on 
the left intended for the Princesses Alice, Helena, and 
Louise ; those on the right, for the Princes Arthur and 
Leopold. The Prince of Wales had a place apart, more 
to the front of the altar, and Prince Alfred among the 
illustrious guests on the right. The Prince Consort and 
King of the Belgians had crimson stools, similar to all 
others provided, except for her Majesty, in the centre of 
the liaut pas. On the right, immediately behind where 
the bridegroom was to stand, were the places for the 
Prince and Princess of Prussia. The places for Prince 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MART LOUISA. 411 

William of Baden and the Duke and Duchess of Saxe- 
Coburg were also upon the right. The Duchess of Kent's 
seat was on the left, near that of the Queen. A few 
minutes sufficed to change these arrangements, decided on 
at three o'clock, though the Queen had expressed her 
entire approbation : as shortly before four a telegram 
arrived at Buckingham Palace announcing the death of 
the Grand Duke of Baden, which caused the Duke and 
Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Prince William of Baden to 
seclude themselves in their own private apartments, and 
it was not expected that they would be present at the 
marriage ceremony. The death of the Duke of Devon- 
shire also rendered it probable that his niece, the Duchess 
of Sutherland, would be prevented attending her Majesty 
on the occasion as Mistress of the Robes. 

There is something peculiarly interesting in the inci- 
dents which accompanied the arrival of Prince Frederick 
William in England on the occasion of his marriage. The 
weather was so stormy the day before, that several vessels 
were wrecked on the coast of Calais, the port from which 
the Prince was expected to embark. In the evening of 
Thursday, a telegraphic announcement was received at 
Dover that the Vivid would depart shortly after seven 
o'clock on the following morning. The weather had 
meanwhile taken a favourable turn ; the day was as calm 
and resplendent as heart could desire, and the Vivid had a 
rapid and favourable passage. The Prince, on landing at 
the Admiralty-pier, was met by Lieut. -Gen. Sir Frederick 
Stovin, K.C.B., Groom in Waiting to her Majesty, Captain 
M'lllwaine, R.N., the Admiralty Superintendent, the Duke 
of Richmond, K.G., General Crauford, Commandant of the 
Garrison, Colonel Ward, R.E , Colonel Brown, R.A., Cap- 
tain Smithett, and Mr. S. Latham, the Prussian Consul. 



412 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

The guard of honour presented arms, the band playing the 
National Anthem, and at the same moment a Royal salute 
was discharged from the Drop Battery. The Prince pro- 
ceeded to the Lord Warden Hotel, where the Royal 
apartments had been prepared for his reception, and 
where he received a congratulatory address from the 
Mayor and Corporation of Dover, to which he gave a 
heartfelt reply, assuring his auditors that this was the 
sixth time he had passed through Dover, and that the 
present was the happiest moment of his life. 

At the Bricklayers' Arms Station the Eoyal visitor was 
met by the Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales, and Prince 
Alfred, who proceeded with him to Buckingham Palace, 
the three Royal carriages used on the occasion being 
escorted by a detachment of the 2nd Life Guards. His 
Royal Highness the Prince of Prussia met his son in the 
Grand Hall, and accompanied him to her Majesty the Queen. 

The third Festival Performance in honour of the Prin- 
cess Royal's nuptials took place on Saturday, January 23rd. 
La Sonnamiula was the opera selected ; it was followed 
by a Festival Cantata, composed expressly for the occasion, 
from which the following is an extract : — 

* ' Soon the parting hour will come, 

Joy is mingled with regret ; 
Eoyal bride, thy native home, 

Girt by ocean, ne'er forget. 
Gentle be the^gales that bear 

Britain's child to foreign lands ; 
Angels guard the treasure fair 

Trusted to your fostering hands." 

Chorus. 
11 Raise on high a joyous song, 

Let the world your rapture know ; 
In a torrent full and strong 
Let the blended voices flow." 



YICTOEIA ADELAIDE MAET LOUISA. 413 

Finale. 
" Hail ! to the Queen of the white-cliff' d isle ! 
Still may she bask beneath fortune's smile ; 
Blessed by the favour of Heav'n above, 
Blessed in her children's — her subjects' love !" 

The evening's entertainment concluded with a Diver- 
tissement Allegorique, by M. Massot. 

This being the first' time on which the Princess Royal 
had been present in public in the company of Prince 
Frederick William, who was seated by her side, much 
enthusiasm was expressed at the conclusion of the Na- 
tional Anthem. The Queen had several times graciously 
responded as usual by curtsies to the cheers from all 
sides of the house, when the cry of " Princess !" " Prin- 
cess !" ran round the whole building. The young and 
interesting object of this national compliment appeared 
for the moment only to hesitate whether she should ac- 
knowledge it, when her Royal mother beckoned her to 
the front of the box, and she gracefully curtsied to the 
assembled multitude amidst the greatest display of enthu- 
siastic feeling. 

The Prince brought with him to London as presents a 
number of the medals struck at Berlin in commemoration 
of the marriage. The wedding rings used at the nuptials 
of the Princess Royal are of Silesian gold, and were manu- 
factured at Breslau. 

A special marriage licence had moreover been prepared 
in conformity with the Act of Parliament (12 Geo. III.), 
for regulating the future marriages of the Royal Family. 
This was written on vellum, and to it was attached the 
Official Seal. 

There were many thousands of hearts that beat high 
with anxiety overnight, in the one fond hope that that 
E E 



414 THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

wedding*day might prove fair for the sake of her who was 
to be given away — whose heart was with her hand to be 
bestowed by herself on the worthy object of her own and 
the nation's choice — a choice approved by her parents, 
who must have felt in parting with her that they were 
only the more closely binding those ties which nature 
herself had already formed between the families of Eng- 
land and Prussia. That the tie now formed by Victoria, 
Princess Royal, might be happy, was the spontaneous 
prayer which rose from the heart of all ; that her Royal 
mother had been happy, was the assurance of the past in 
token of the future, which promised all that was bright 
and fair ; and when the sun pierced through the dense fog 
which had enveloped the morning in its cloudy veil, and 
dissipated with its smile all doubts of the usual " Royal 
weather," as though smiling in benediction on the bridal 
pair, the multitudes who thronged the line of route gladly 
accepted the happy prognostic of the wedded life of their 
favourite Princess. 

At twelve o'clock the bridal procession began to wend 
its way through the Park to the Palace of St. James. 
Twenty carriages combed the Royal family, and those 
illustrious guests who had assembled to witness this inte- 
resting event, to the gate of St. James's Palace, where a 
covered way had been erected at the private entrance from 
the garden. The interior of the pavilion was lined with 
scarlet and purple cloth, and the drapery was arranged in 
elegant folds around the opening at either end. The slender 
pillars which supported the roof were connected by garlands 
formed of holly, golden furze, and laurustinus in flower, 
with pendents composed of tendrils of ivy. A knot with 
streamers of the colours of England and Prussia united 
the garlands over each column. The principal entrance 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MABT LOUISA. 415 

to the Palace was set in a frame of leaves, flowers, and 
berries, combined in a highly pleasing manner, and was 
surmounted by an arch, consisting of palm-branches and 
other exotic plants. Her Majesty was received by the 
great officers of State, and conducted to the Royal closet. 
The banister of the narrow staircase by which the Queen 
ascended was tastefully decorated with creeping plants, 
interwoven with roses and camellias. A change, almost 
magical in its effect, had been made in the Koyal closet. 
The walls were covered with rich embossments in white 
and gold, the ceiling was chastely painted and gilded in 
the same colours, while nothing could exceed the richness 
and elegance of the furniture. From the Koyal closet 
the Princess Eoyal, accompanied by the Prince Consort 
and the King of the Belgians, was conducted to the Re- 
tiring Room, a remarkably handsome apartment, exqui- 
sitely decorated for the occasion. Her Majesty, however, 
passed at once into the Robing Room, one of the noblest 
saloons in the Palace, fitted with the rich and quaint but 
somewhat sombre furniture of the time of Queen Anne. 
Her Majesty's Procession was formed in the Throne Room, 
where an elegant table, covered with crimson velvet cloth 
festooned with blue cords and tassels, had been placed for 
the signing of the marriage register. The windows were 
filled with flowers, and the mantelpiece bore a miniature 
■parterre, the edges of the white marble being fringed with 
delicate twining plants. No attempt seemed to have been 
made, except by the introduction of flowers, to improve 
the State apartments. The passage of the processions 
through Queen Anne's Room, the Tapestry Room, and 
the Armoury, was a scene equally splendid and impressive. 
The ladies who occupied the seats prepared for the occa- 
sion, and the greater part of whom were in the bloom of 
e e 2 



416 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

youth, were all in full Court dress ; they rose as each 
procession passed them, and did homage to it by a deep 
obeisance, which was graciously acknowledged by her 
Majesty and the other principal personages. Most of the 
gentlemen present were in military or naval uniform. At 
the top of the great staircase leading to the Colour Court 
were the initials of the bride and bridegroom, formed of 
white flowers upon a background of evergreens, plaited 
so as to compose a rich natural tapestry, the whole sup- 
ported by palm branches, displayir. g the colours of England 
and Prussia. 

At half-past twelve, a few notes on the organ were 
heard, which were immediately followed by the arrival of 
the Princess of Prussia, mother of the bridegroom, in the 
Chapel. Two young ladies in the group of Ladies of 
Honour and Gentlemen in Waiting attendant on the 
Princess of Prussia attracted particular attention, for it 
was understood they were the first ladies appointed of the 
future household of the young Princess: they were the 
Countess Hohenthal and the Countess Lynar — about her 
own age, interesting in appearance, and uniformly attired 
in elegant and simple pink dresses. Countess Bernstorff, 
wife of the Prussian Minister, attended also on the 
Princess. 

The approach of the Procession of the Queen was an- 
nounced by the sound of trumpets and the beat of 
drums. She was attended by the Princess Mary of Cam- 
bridge, the Duchess of Sutherland, the Duchess of Kent, 
Lady Macdonald, and Lady Caroline Barrington. 

Never surely had Queen Victoria felt more happy or 
more proud than on the present occasion, when, sur- 
rounded by her whole family, the infant Beatrice alone 
excepted, she attended at the Chapel Eoyal to witness 



YICTOKIA ADELAIDE MARY LOTJISA. 417 

the nuptials of her first-bom daughter. Just before the 
Queen, yet close enough to be at her side, were the two 
elder Princes, attired in Highland costume. The two 
younger Princes came close by the side of her Majesty, 
and then followed the three younger Princesses — Alice, 
Helena, and Louise, all of them dressed in light pink tulle. 

The Master of the Ceremonies and other officials con- 
ducted her Majesty to her Chair of State, and the rest of 
the members of the procession to their various seats, 
while the other portions of the assembly remained 
standing. 

The procession of the Bridegroom followed almost im- 
mediately after; and as the assembly rose to receive 
Prince Frederick William, he bowed to them in a very 
graceful manner, appearing to great advantage. 

His Royal Highness, who wore the uniform of the 
Prussian Guards, and carried his helmet of polished silver 
in his hand, is tall in figure, and has a soldierly bearing. 
On arriving at the altar, he made a profound obeisance to 
his Royal mother, and afterwards to her Majesty. He 
then knelt, and passed a few moments in devotion. 

Another flourish of trumpets announced the arrival of 
the Royal Bride, whose procession entered the Chapel at 
a quarter to one o'clock. The dress of the Princess was 
of virgin white. It consisted of a rich robe of white moire 
antique, ornamented with three flounces of Honiton lace. 
The design of the lace consisted of bouquets in openwork, 
of the rose, shamrock, and thistle, in three medallions. 
At the top of each flounce, in front of the dress, were 
wreaths of orange and myrtle blossoms — the latter being 
the bridal flower of Germany — eveiy wreath terminating 
with bouquets of the same flowers, and the length of each 
being so graduated as to give the appearance of a robe 



41S THE 110TAL PRINCESSES. 

defined by flowers. The apex of this floral pyramid was 
formed by a large bouquet worn on the girdle. The 
train, more than three yards in length, was of white moire 
antique, trimmed with two rows of Honiton lace, sur- 
mounted by wreaths similar to those on the flounces of 
the dress, with bouquets at short intervals. 

The Bride's necklace, ear-rings, and brooch were of 
diamonds ; she wore also the Prussian Order of Louisa, 
and a Portuguese Order. The head-dress was a wreath of 
orange flowers and myrtle ; the veil of Honiton lace, to 
correspond wibh the dress. The design of the lace was 
alternate medallions of the rose, shamrock, and thistle, 
with a rich ground of leaves. The veil was of an altogether 
new style, entirely the suggestion of her Majesty. 

The bridal bouquet of the Princess Royal was intrusted 
to the skill and taste of Mr. Harding, and the suggestions 
of Prince Frederick William as to its component parts are 
said to have been gallantly transmitted a fortnight before 
the auspicious event for which it was intended. 

On the right-hand side, the young Bride was supported 
by her father, the Prince Consort ; on her left, by her 
godfather, the King of the Belgians. 

The train of the Bride was fitly sustained by the fairest 
daughters of the first Peers of the land ; two and two, they 
followed thus : — Lady Susan Charlotte Catherine Pelham 
Clinton, daughter of the Duke of Newcastle ; Lady Cecilia 
Catherine Gordon Lennox, daughter of the Duke of Rich- 
mond ; Lady Katherine Hamilton, daughter of the Mar- 
quis of Abercorn ; Lady Emma Charlotte Smith Stanley, 
daughter of the Earl of Derby ; Lady Susan Catherine 
Mary Murray, daughter of the Earl of Dunmore ; Lady 
Constance Yilliers, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon; 
Lady Victoria Noel, daughter of the Earl of Gains- 



YICTOBIA ADELAIDE MART LOUISA. 419 

borough ; 'and Lady Cecilia Maria Charlotte Molyneux, 
daughter of the Earl of Sefton. 

These lovely and high-born young ladies, the personal 
friends of the Princess Royal — every one of them lineally 
descended from the Royal houses of England and Scot- 
land — were uniformly attired in dresses selected from a 
design furnished by the taste of the illustrious Bride her- 
self. Their dresses consisted of a white glace petticoat, 
entirely covered by six deep tulle flounces, over which fell 
a tunic of tulle, trimmed with ruches of tulle, looped upon 
one side with a bouquet of pink roses and white heather. 
The body was trimmed with draperies of tulle, with hang- 
ing sleeves of the same material, trimmed with ruches. 
A bouquet of the same flowers was worn on the girdle, 
and on each shoulder. 

Before quitting Buckingham Palace, the Princess 
Royal had taken an affectionate farewell of her brides- 
maids, each of whom she tenderly embraced, with expres- 
sions of gratitude for their obliging attentions. 

On arriving at the Chapel, the Bride was conducted to 
her seat on the left side of the liaut pas leading to the Com- 
munion Table, near the Queen's chair of state, and the 
Prince Consort and King of the Belgians were conducted 
to their seats on the Tiaut pas near the Bride. The Lord 
Chamberlain and Vice-Chamberlain stood near the Queen. 

The Princess Royal knelt when she was conducted to 
the altar, and while she remained in that position, the 
cor ale appointed for the service commenced— 

' l This day with, gladsome voice and heart, 
We praise thy name, Lord, who art 

Of all good things the giver. 
For England's first-born hope we pray — 
From hour to hour, from day to day, 

Be near her now and ever. 



420 THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

King of Kings ! Lord of Lords ! — 

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 

We adore thee ; 

Hear us while we kneel before Thee." 

At the conclusion Handel's " Hallelujah Chorus" was 
sung, and Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" played after- 
wards as the procession left the Chapel. 

The service ended, Prince Frederick William embraced 
his Koyal father, by kissing first his hand and then his 
cheek ; he then saluted his mother in a similar manner. 
Meanwhile the Eoyal Bride was affectionately embraced 
by her Majesty and the Duchess of Kent, the Prince 
Consort, and her sisters. Prince Frederick William then 
crossed the liaut pas, and kissed the Prince Consort, the 
King of the Belgians, and lastly, her Majesty, who em- 
braced his Eoyal Highness with much affection. The 
Princess Eoyal, on her part, at the same instant stepped 
across to her father-in-law, whose hand she seized, and 
would have kissed, but that the gallantry of his Eoyal 
Highness preferred to receive the token of affection upon 
his cheek. The Princess now embraced her illustrious- 
mother-in-law most affectionately, and then, resigning 
herself to the conduct of her Eoyal husband, retired from 
the Chapel, followed by the ladies of her household, and' 
by the Countess Bernstorff, in the order of procession^ 
prescribed. The Queen's procession was then re-formed, and 
followed the Bride and Bridegroom to the Throne Eoom 
in the same order in which it had entered the Chapel. 

On the Eoyal party arriving in the Throne Eoom, the 
marriage was formally attested by the signatures of the 
Queen and the Prince Consort, the Crown Prince and 
Princess of Prussia, the King of the Belgians, and all 
the junior branches of the English Eoyal family. The 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MAET LOUISA. 421 

record was also signed by the Lord Chancellor and the 
other Cabinet Ministers present, and also by his Excel- 
lency Count BernstorfF. 

A very interesting incident occurred immediately after 
the return of the bridal party to Buckingham Palace. 
The windows opening into the balcony were unclosed, 
and, to the delight of thousands of her loyal subjects, the 
Queen stepped out and bowed to the enthusiastic acclama- 
tions of the vast crowd before her. She then retired, but 
as speedily returned, and, leading by the hand the Princess 
Royal, presented her to the multitude. As the Queen 
withdrew, the Royal Bridegroom took his place by the 
side of his Bride, and hand in hand the illustrious pair 
received a most vociferous ovation. The Prince Consort, 
the Prince of Wales, the Prince and Princess of Prussia, 
in turn appeared before the delighted spectators, and 
received a hearty welcome ; and finally, the Bride and 
Bridegroom again came forward, and took a farewell 
greeting. ISTo words can convey an idea of the enthu- 
siasm which this most graceful and considerate act on the 
part of her Majesty excited. 

Soon after the return of her Majesty and the Court, a 
dejeuner was served in the State Dinner Room, into which 
the Queen and Prince Consort, the Prince and Princess- 
Frederick William of Prussia, the Ro} r al family, and 
foreign Princes, passed from the Picture Gallery. 

The Wedding Cake was placed in the middle of the 
table ; it was between six and seven feet in height, and 
was divided from the base to the top into three compart- 
ments, all in white. 

The newly married pair departed for Windsor Castle at 
twenty-five minutes before five o'clock. 

The Queen, Prince Consort, and Royal family, with the 



122 THE EOYAL PEIX CESSES. 

Prince and Princess of Prussia, accompanied their Koyal 
Highnesses to the Grand Hall, where the Ladies and 
Gentlemen in Waiting had assembled. Her Majesty and 
the Prince and Princess of Prussia took leave of their 
Royal relatives at the principal entrance, and the Prince 
Consort accompanied his daughter and Prince Frederick 
William to their carriage. 

The Bride Princess was attired in a white epingle dress 
high up, with plain skirt, with lace collar and sleeves ; a 
cloak of white epingle trimmed with grebe ; the bonnet 
white epingle, trimmed with orange-blossoms, and a Brus- 
sels lace veil. Lady Churchill, the Countess Perponcher, 
and Sir Frederick Stovin were in attendance on their 
Royal Highnesses. The Royal pair arrived at the Pad- 
dington station of the Great Western Railway a few 
minutes after five o'clock, where a special train was in 
waiting to convey them to Windsor. 

At the George-street terminus, Windsor, arrangements 
had been made for as many persons as possible, without 
inconvenience, to witness the arrival of their Royal High- 
nesses. Seats on one side of the platform were erected 
for 500 Etonians, who had assembled in full dress, wear- 
ing rosettes. In front of her Majesty's Reception Room 
were the Mayor and Magistrates of the borough, and 
drawn up in the rear was a guard of honour composed of 
the Scots Fusileer Guards. 

The Royal train arrived at twenty minutes to six, 
amidst an announcement of fireworks and firing of cannon, 
the guard of honour saluting. No sooner were the Bride 
and Bridegroom seated in their carriage, than the Eton 
boys, to the number of one hundred, yoked themselves to 
the vehicle, and the remainder surrounding it formed an 
aristocratic escort. This ingenious manoeuvre accom- 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MART LOUISA. 423 

plished, the Royal pair were drawn in triumph to the 
Castle, amidst the acclamations of assembled thousands, 
the Scots Fusileer Guards preceding the carriage to clear 
the way. At night the town was brilliantly illuminated. 

A State Concert at Buckingham Palace and brilliant 
illuminations closed the evening in the English metro- 
polis. 

A general holiday by common consent was observed at 
Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham, Brighton, Canter- 
bury, Wakefield, Leicester, Bristol, Manchester, &c. In 
these cities and towns, entertainments were given on a 
brilliant scale, while bells were rung, and flags and 
banners floated in every street. 

On the night of the 25th of January, a ball was given 
in Paris, at the British Embassy, in honour of the marriage 
of the Princess Eoyal of England. The Emperor and 
Empress were present. His Majesty wore the Order of 
the Garter, and with the Empress joined in the dancing. 
During supper, his Majesty rose and proposed, in a few 
and appropriate words, the health of the Princess Eoyal 
of England, expressing a hope that she might be as happy 
in her married state as her amiable qualities so richly 
merited. This toast was received with great enthusiasm.' 

In Berlin, on the wedding-day, Lord Bloomfield gave a 
brilliant ball at the Hotel of the English Mission. Among 
the company were their Eoyal Highnesses Prince and 
Princess Carl and the Princess Leignitz, &c. The portrait 
of the Princess Eoyal, by Winterhalter, lent to Lord 
Bloomfield for the occasion by Prince Frederick William, 
attracted the admiration of the whole company. 

In all the important cities of Prussia, the authorities 
instituted festivities in celebration of the marriage. 

Mr. Buchanan's fete, at Copenhagen, in honour of the 



424 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

occasion, was very brilliant. The King of Denmark came 
there in full state, with a military escort, and running 
footmen bearing torches in front. The Dowager Queen 
Amalia, the Hereditary Crown Prince Ferdinand, Prince 
Christian of Denmark, and the Royal Princesses, honoured 
our Minister and Mrs. Buchanan with their company. 

Sir Ralph Abercromby, at the Hague, gave a grand 
dinner on the wedding-day, at which the Queen of Hol- 
land, granddaughter of Caroline Matilda, was present ; 
Lord Howard de Walden also gave a fete at Brussels. 

The following more solid commemoration of this event 
occurred on the occasion : — 

The national society called the " Friedrich Wilhelm 
Victoria Stiftung," founded January 1st, 1856, at the time 
of the Prince of Prussia's jubilee in honour of the ap- 
proaching marriage, not only supplied seven young bridal 
couples with a donation of 100 thalers each towards com- 
mencing housekeeping — five of whom were married on the 
25th January, and the remaining two on February 8fch, 
the day of the entry into Berlin — but the same was also 
done for one couple in Spandau, two in .Magdeburg, and 
one in Breslau.* 

• A lofty open coronet of diamonds was the gift of the 
King and Queen of Prussia to the young English bride, 
the design of which, with its thin spires of brilliants and 
open shell-work between, is probably one of the most 
chaste and graceful that has ever been executed. The 
presents of the Queen of England to her beloved daughter 
were, first, a broad diamond necklace, with a treble row of 
the most brilliant drops, and long pointed terminals, which 
match the light tracery of the coronet. The second gift 

* On the meeting of this society in 1862, it was found that no less 
than forty couples had received similar donations. 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MART LOUISA. 425 

from the Royal mother consisted of three massive brooches, 
somewhat in the style and size of the Scotch plaid brooch, 
but which, instead of having an open circlet in the middle, 
were in each case filled with a noble pearl of the very 
largest size and purity of colour. 

The Queen's third present was three silver candelabra, 
the centre-piece springing from an elaborate base, sur- 
rounded by large groups of figures, exquisitely chased, in 
full relief. This is four feet high, and supports between 
twenty and thirty branches. The two others are to match 
the centre, and are equally elaborate, and -almost equally 
massive and lofty. 

The gift of the Prince Consort was most costly — a 
superb bracelet of brilliants and emeralds, in both design 
and execution beautiful. This ornament the Princess 
Royal wore, on the occasion of her marriage, on the right 
arm ; on the left arm she wore a bracelet, also of diamonds 
and emeralds, presented by the Gentlemen of the Eoyal 
Household, but inferior in value to the other, both in 
design and in the manner in which it is set. 

The Prince of Wales gave his sister a suite of ear-rings, 
brooch, and necklace of opals and diamonds. The Princess 
Alice gave a small but beautifully formed brooch of pearls ; 
and the Princesses Helena, Louise, and Beatrice a massy 
stud brooch or button, similar in shape to those of 
diamond and pearl of the Queen's gifts, before mentioned. 
These brooches are of massive gold, ornamented with 
pearls and emeralds, pearls and rubies, and pearls and sap- 
phires. The Duchess of Cambridge gave a noble bracelet 
of diamonds and opals ; and the Princess Mary her portrait 
in massive gold frame and stand. 

A magnificent necklace, composed of pure brilliants and 
turquoises, and called " the Turquoise Necklace," from the 



426 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

size, value, and rarity of the latter gems, was the gift of 
the bride's Royal father-in-law, the Prince of Prussia, 
The Princess of Prussia's gift was a stomacher brooch of 
brilliants, of which the stones were of the purest water, 
and the setting and design exquisite. Her grandmother, 
the venerable Duchess of Kent, presented the Princess 
Royal with a magnificent and useful dressing-case, of 
which the articles were all of massive silver-gilt, enriched 
with bright-red coral, and for simplicity and beauty of 
design not to be surpassed. A writing-desk to match the 
dressing-case was presented by the Duchess of Buccleugh. 

From the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh, the Bride received 
an opera-glass, of elaborate design. The Duchess of Saxe- 
Weimar gave a magnificent bracelet of rubies, diamonds, 
and emeralds : and the Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg 
bestowed plain bracelets with enamel miniatures of the 
givers on each. The Marchioness of Breadalbane gave a 
toilet hand-mirror, of which the frame was of massive 
gold set with pearls, the handle composed entirely of one 
brilliant cairngorm. 

The gift of the Bridegroom — the most costly, though 
in appearance the most simple of any — was a necklace of 
pearls, the value of which may be estimated from the fact 
that the necklace, though full-sized, requires only thirty- 
six to complete the entire circle ; the pearls graduate in 
size from the centre, tapering less and less as they approach 
each end. The three centre pearls in this superb circlet 
are said to be of great value, being estimated at 28,000 
thalers (4200Z.). The pearls are remarkably pure — the 
largest, in the centre, of the size of a hazel-nut — and the 
number composing the necklace have only been accumu- 
lated by dint of great diligence, during a lengthened 
period. 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MARY LOUISA. 427 

A large edition of the sacred volume — a Bible, bound in 
the most costly and gorgeous style — has on the fly-leaf 
this inscription : — 

" The Committee of the British and Foreign Bible 
Society, to her Royal Highness the Princess Royal, on the 
occasion of her marriage, with sincere prayers to Almighty 
God for her happiness in time and eternity. 

" Shaftesbury, President. 

" January, 1858." 

On Tuesday afternoon, January 26, these splendid testi- 
monials of affection were exhibited at Buckingham Palace 
to the representatives of the British people. Amongst 
them was a Brussels lace dress, the present of his Majesty 
the King of the Belgians, made expressly for the young 
Bride, and valued at 50,000 francs, or 2000Z. sterling. It 
was in a little card-box, with a delicate fringe left out to 
show the pattern. Very many even of the most costly 
presents were not exhibited, as a great number of the 
gifts to the Bride had been already packed up, and sent 
off to Berlin ; of this number were magnificent presents 
from the Countess of Fife, the Countess of Derby, the 
Countess of Clarendon, and others ; articles of their own 
work sent by every lady of the Royal household, and by 
many personal friends and acquaintances of the Princess. 

The King of the Belgians and his sons, and his Serene 
Highness .the Prince of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen, took 
leave of the Queen, on their departure for the Continent, 
on January 26th. The Princes Albert, Frederick Charles, 
Frederick Albert, and Adalbert « of Prussia, with their 
suite, left Buckingham Palace the same day at an early 
hour, on a visit to several of the principal ports and towns 
in En 2fl and. 



-V2S TIIE KOYAL PRINCESSES. 

Deputations from the Universities of Oxford and Cam- 
bridge waited on the Queen with congratulations upon the 
marriage ; as did also the Lord Mayor and Corporation of 
the City of London, as well as the body of Protestant Dis- 
senting Ministers, and the body of English Presbyterian 
Ministers. 

On Wednesday, her Majesty, the Prince Consort, and 
the Royal family departed for Windsor. 

At a quarter to two their Royal Highnesses Prince 
Frederick William and Princess Victoria came from 
Windsor Castle in an open phaeton to the station, and 
were received with the usual military honours, a Prussian 
air being played amid hearty acclamations from the assem- 
bled throng. The Prince and Princess awaited in the 
saloon the coming of the Royal train. On its arrival the 
youthful couple advanced across the platform to the car- 
riage doors. The Prince Consort, who was the first to 
leave the carriage, affectionately patted the cheek of his 
daughter while handing out her Majesty. The meeting 
of the Royal mother and daughter exhibited the warmest 
affection. Her Majesty afterwards saluted Prince Fre- 
derick William ; and as soon as the Princess had placed 
in the hands of the Queen a magnificent bouquet of 
flowers, she affectionately embraced the Prince of Wales 
and all the Royal children. 

After passing through the saloon, her Majesty, the 
Prince Consort, and the Prince and Princess Frederick 
William entered the pony phaeton, and, followed by five 
other carriages, which contained the Prince of Wales, the 
Princess Alice, the rest of the Royal family, visitors, and 
suite, left the station, and proceeded at a slow pace 
through the town to the Castle, amidst the joyous accla- 
mations of the people. 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MART LOUISA. 429 

A grand and imposing spectacle took place at the solemn 
installation of Prince Frederick William of Prussia as a 
Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, on the 
following day, her Majesty having convened a Chapter of 
the Order at the Castle for that purpose. 

At five minutes past three o'clock, her Boyal Highness 
the Princess Frederick William of Prussia passed through 
the Grand Keception Boom into the Throne or Garter 
Boom, attended by the Ladies and Gentlemen of her 
household, to witness the investiture of her husband ; his 
Boyal Highness the Prince of Wales (in Highland 
dress), and her Boyal Highness the Princess Alice, accom- 
panied their sister. The Prussian Minister and Countess 
BernstorfF followed the Princess into the Throne Boom, 
where her Boyal Highness was ushered to a chair at the 
east end of the apartment. The Princess wore a dress of 
white silk brocaded with gold, trimmed with gold lace, 
and a white satin skirt, trimmed with gold lace. Her 
Boyal Highness's head-dress was formed of holly, gold 
leaves, white feathers, and diamond ornaments. 

The Prince and Princess Frederick William, after the 
investiture of the Order of the Garter, attended Divine 
Service in St. George's Chapel. 

The Queen gave a grand dinner in the evening in the 
Waterloo Gallery. All the Knights of the Garter assist- 
ing at the Chapter were honoured with invitations : the 
guests amounted to seventy-one. The magnificent service 
of silver- gilt was used for the occasion, and the plateau 
was brilliantly lit by numerous golden candelabra filled 
with wax-lights, the candelabrum of St. George forming 
the centre ornament of the Boyal table. 

At half-past eleven on the morning of Friday, January 
29th, the Mayor and Corporation of Windsor presented 

E F 



130 TIIE EOTAL PEIISTCESSES. 

an address of congratulation on behalf of themselves and 
the town to the Prince and Princess Frederick William, 
on the happy occasion of their nuptials. 

On the evening of Friday, January 29th, the fourth and 
last of the Festival Performances in honour of the Princess 
Royal's nuptials with Prince Frederick William of Prussia, 
took place at her Majesty's Theatre. The house was 
decorated nearly the same as on the former occasion ; on 
the panels of the second-tier boxes, immediately fronting 
the stage, were inscribed, in golden letters upon a crimson 
ground, the words "May Heaven bless them !" Her 
Majesty's box was draped very tastefully in crimson and 
blue velvet, the canopy being surmounted with the arms 
of England and Prussia. At the base of the Royal box, 
on either side, a " beef-eater" kept watch and ward during 
the whole performance ; and two other of these officials 
were stationed respectively on the right and the left of 
the proscenium. 

The Prince of Wales, the Princess Alice, and the rest of 
the Royal children occupied a box directly in front of the 
stage, and consequently at some distance from their august 
parents. 

At half-past seven the Queen and the Prince Consort, 
with Prince Frederick William of Prussia and his Royal 
Bride, attended by the Court, entered the theatre amidst 
continued acclamations. 

The Princess Frederick William of Prussia wore a dress 
of light blue tulle over blue silk, trimmed with white 
blonde ; a large diamond brooch, with pendants ; a neck- 
lace and ear-rings of diamonds. Her Royal Highness 
wore a wreath of sweet peas as a head-dress. 

On the entrance of the Royal party the curtain rose and 
discovered the whole corps dramatique upon the stage, all 



YICTOEIA ADELAIDE iXART LOUISA. 431 

the ladift being: dressed in white. The National Anthem 
was then sung, with additional verses made for the occa- 
sion by Mr. Alfred Tennyson, the Poet Laureate, which 
were as follows : — 

Chorus. 
* l God save our Prince and Bride ! 
God keep their hands allied ! 

God save the Queen ! 
Clothe them with righteousness ! 
Crown them with happiness ! 
Them with all blessings bless ! 
God save the Queen !" 

Solo. 
11 Fair fall this hallow'd hour ! 
Farewell, our England's flower ! 

God save the Queen ! 
Farewell, fair Rose of May ! 
Let both the peoples say, 
* God bless thy marriage day !' 
God save the Queen !" 

The piece selected for representation was Sheridan's 
comedy of The Rivals, at the close of which the National 
Anthem was again sung. Then followed The Spitalfields 
Weaver, and at the conclusion her Majesty and the Royal 
party retired amidst general and hearty cheering. 

The Queen held a Drawing Room on Saturday afternoon, 
January 30th, for the purpose of receiving congratula- 
tions on the happy event of the Royal nuptials. No pre- 
sentations took place on the occasion. At the Drawing 
Room, his Royal Highness the Prince Consort was on the 
right of the Queen. Her Royal Highness the Princess 
Frederick William was on her Majesty's left, with his 
Royal Highness Prince Frederick William of Prussia 
standing by her side. 

p p 2 



432 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

The Queen wore a train of cerise and silver brocaded 
silk, trimmed with silver blonde and bows of cerise satin 
ribbon. The petticoat white satin, trimmed with bouil- 
lonnies of silver blonde and branches of camellias. The 
dress ornamented with diamonds. Her Majesty wore a 
diadem of diamonds and feathers. 

The Princess wore a dress of white moire antique, 
trimmed with satin ruches, white roses, and jessamine. 
The petticoat white moire antique, with deep flounces of 
Honiton lace, trimmed to correspond with the train. The 
corsage was ornamented with diamonds. Her Royal 
Highness wore a diadem of diamonds and a necklace ' of 
pearls. 

The Court was brilliantly and numerously attended, all 
being eager to behold and to congratulate on so joyous an 
occasion the beloved daughter of a Sovereign so dear to 
all classes of her people, and who, for her own intrinsic 
worth and amiable disposition, was an object of general 
affection and esteem. 

On the same day, Saturday, January 30th, their Royal 
Highnesses the Prince and Princess Frederick William of 
Prussia received various addresses of congratulation at 
Buckingham Palace. In the evening her Majesty had a 
dinner party, and afterwards an evening party, at both of 
which the newly-married pair were present. 

Man} r pleasing anecdotes are preserved of the affection 
testified by Princess Victoria towards those who had sur- 
rounded her Boyal person from childhood, and whose 
attachment and services she delicately acknowledged in 
parting from them. Mrs. Anderson, who for twelve years 
had been her instructress in music, was highly gratified 
about this time by receiving a very handsome bracelet, with 
a pendant enclosing a locket of the Princess's own hair. 



YICTOKIA ADELAIDE ZtfARY LOUISA. 433 

The morning at length arrived on which our beloved 
Princess Royal was to bid adieu to her parents, her rela- 
tives, her native country, and with the husband of her 
choice to depart to a new land, a foreign home, to the 
bosom of another family — in the midst of other and novel 
scenes to pass her life. This parting could not but fall 
heavily on not only the young Bride — who had never 
through her life been separated from the home-ties of her 
childhood's years up to the present period — but still more 
on the parents who had given away their first-born, their 
hope and pride. The whole nation, too, grieved to lose 
the blooming Princess whose presence had long gladdened 
them with a smile. Yet with the cloud comes the rain- 
bow smile, and it could not be forgotten by those who 
would have mourned, that this shade of sorrow must 
eventually be swept away by the national joy, the alliance 
of two mighty nations, the renewal of ancient ties of con- 
sanguinity, the reception in triumph of the Royal daughter 
of an illustrious house into the home and affection of not 
only her husband's ancestors but her own. 

The party assembled at a quarter to twelve in the Great 
Hall of Buckingham Palace, to take leave of the bridal 
pair, were her Majesty and all the Royal family : the 
Prince Consort, the two elder Princes, and the Duke of 
Cambridge were to accompany them to Grravesend. Among 
those who had to bid an immediate farewell were the 
Duchess of Kent, the Duchess and Princess Mary of Cam- 
bridge, the Duke of Saxe Coburg, and Prince Victor of 
Hohenlohe. The Queen and her children, the Duchesses 
of Kent and Cambridge, and Princess Mary accompanied 
the bridal pair to the principal entrance. 

Princess Frederick's travelling dress was of drab silk 
with green trimmings ; a black velvet mantle, and over it 



434 THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

a burnous ; a bonnet of maroon velvet with white ostrich 
feathers, and a black veil. 

At length the last embrace, the farewell was spoken, and 
from the windows of her regal residence alone could the 
Queen of England gaze on the departing procession which 
conveyed away from the happy home of her youth the 
cortege of the Princess Eoyal. The Prince and Princess 
were handed by the Master of the Horse into an open 
carriage-ancl-four, the Prince Consort and Prince of Wales 
taking the opposite seats. The rest of the Eoyal party 
and the suite of the Prince and Princess occupied five more 
open carriages, each drawn by four horses. 

Her Majesty and the Royal children came out on the 
balcony and watched the procession as long as it continued 
in sight, although the snow had already begun to fall. It 
was about twelve o'clock when the procession passed 
through the gateway of the Palace, the band of the Gold- 
stream Guards playing " Home, sweet Home." First 
came a detachment of the Life Guards; then an open 
carriage-and-four, containing the Prince and Princess Fre- 
derick William, the Priuce Consort, and the Prince of 
Wales ; a second carriage, in which were the Duke of 
Cambridge and Prince Alfred ; and four other carriages, 
conveying the ladies and gentlemen in attendance on the 
Royal party ; a detachment of the Life Guards brought up 
the rear. The snow fell faster and faster as the procession 
moved at a gentle trot along the Mall, by Stafford House, 
down Cleveland Row and Pall Mall. The Princess Royal 
was scarcely able to subdue her emotion sufficiently to 
acknowledge the cheers she received on all sides in her 
progress. The route intended to be taken having been 
thought by some to be through the Horse Guards, the 
multitude had congregated in Trafalgar Square, as the 



YICTOKIA ADELAIDE MAEY LOUISA. 435 

locality commanding the double approach to the Strand, 
through which the line of route was certain to take place. 
Not a point was unoccupied ; not a window unfilled, even 
of houses of several stories, to the very top ; handkerchiefs 
waved, bells rang out gaily their peals, flags waved across 
the street, and far as eye could see was a countless multi- 
tude, who, as the beloved object of solicitude appeared, 
rent the air with their acclamations. 

At Temple Bar, the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs had arrived 
in their State carriages, to conduct the Royal party into 
the City with a guard of honour of the Artillery Company, 
who presented arms. 

Up the sides of Temple Bar ran clusters of the national 
flags of the two countries, flanked by shields on which 
were emblazoned the arms of the Royal houses' of England 
and Prussia, while over the gate were medallions of the 
Prince and Princess, surmounting the legends — " God 
speed you !" — " Farewell !" The Lord Mayor presented a 
bouquet of choice flowers to the fair Bride as she entered 
his magisterial domains : which gallant compliment having 
been graciously received, the procession moved on at the 
same gentle trot, preceded by the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, 
through the densely crowded streets, till it was hardly 
possible to discern St. Paul's, except on a close approach. 
After passing Ludgate Hill, St. Paul's Churchyard, Can- 
non Street, King William Street, amid a concourse of ani- 
mated people, and enthusiastic cheers from all points in 
the route, the Royal cortege approached London Bridge, 
where the broad thoroughfare had been ornamented for 
the occasion. The bells rang merrily, the ships on the 
river were gaily decked, and thus the bridal couple pro- 
ceeded onward, and passed out of this ancient metropolis 
by the Dover and Old Kent Road to the Bricklayers' 



13(3 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Arms Station, where an enthusiastic multitude had assem- 
bled to obtain a last sight of the Princess. 

In the receiving-room a bouquet of the choicest flowers 
from Paris was presented to the Princess Eoyal by Miss 
Mary Eborall, the pretty little daughter of the General 
Manager of the Company, which her Royal Highness very 
graciously accepted. 

After about five minutes — during which interval she 
gave all a chance of being gratified by beholding her as 
she moved from side to side of the carriage — she entered, 
and was followed by Prince Frederick William, the Prince 
Consort, the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, and the Duke 
of Cambridge. There was already one occupant of the 
Royal saloon railway carriage, a little Italian greyhound 
belonging to the Princess Frederick William, brought 
over to England as a present to her from Berlin by the 
Prince her husband. It had awaited the arrival of its 
master and mistress with some impatience, and greeted 
them briskly on their arrival. The Royal party having 
taken their seats, the signal was given, and the train moved 
off amid loud and heartfelt cheers. 

At ten minutes to one, the train quitted the Brick- 
layers' Arms Station on its way to Gravesend, where the 
embarkation was to take place. Here the Royal party 
arrived at twenty-five minutes to two o'clock. 

A great concourse of persons had congregated from 
all parts to Gravesend on the morning of that day when 
the young Princess was to bid adieu to her native land, 
to catch a parting look of one so dear to the nation. 

As soon as the Railway Station was cleared, the Royal 
party, in four carriages, drawn by four horses each, pro- 
ceeded to the Pier, escorted by the Cobham troop of the 
West Kent Yeomanry, under the command of the Earl of 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE AUABY LOUISA. 437 

Darnley. Through the whole route they were enthusias- 
tically cheered. 

The Royal party first passed from the Station under a 
splendid triumphal arch. Almost immediately on enter- 
ing the town, the travellers were greeted with parting 
words of hearty remembrance. 

The whole length of Windmill Street had stages of 
seats erected in front of the houses : the children of the 
Gravesend and Milton Union, stationed within the railings 
of St. Thomas's Almshouses, sent up their cheer of wel- 
come as the Royal carriages passed. A balcony the entire 
length of Harmer Street was festooned with evergreens 
and white roses, which had a very gay effect. The smil- 
ing Princess bowed her acknowledgments as she passed, 
for the kind reception shown by the garlands, wreaths, and 
wishes for her happiness expressed around her in every 
direction, and proceeded with the Royal party, amid con- 
tinued cheering until they reached the Terrace Pier, where 
she was hailed by the National Anthem. The Royal party 
was received by the Mayor of Gravesend, Mr. Troughton ; 
the Mayor and Town Clerk of Maidstone, and also of 
Rochester, &c. On entering the Pier the Town Clerk 
presented the address of the Town and Corporation to 
Prince Frederick William, who graciously received it. 

As the Royal party proceeded along the Pier, fifty- 
eight young ladies, most of whom were children, who 
were stationed on either side of the procession, strewed 
flowers from their baskets in the path of the Prince and 
Princess. They were all uniformly attired in white dresses, 
with mantles of blue trimmed with swansdown, and on 
their heads a wreath of drooping lilies of the valley. The 
Mayor's daughter was the one at the head of the fair 
throng appointed to present Princess Frederick William 



43S THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

with a bouquet, which she accomplished with much child- 
ish grace. Although the fair Bride had already a magni- 
ficent one in her hand when it was presented to her, she 
transferred it instantly to Prince Frederick William, and 
receiving the one offered by Miss Troughton with a smile 
and curtsey, carried it herself in her hand as she proceeded 
down the Pier. 

The yards of all the vessels of the flotilla were manned, 
and as the Princess with her husband stepped upon the 
gangway leading to the Royal yacht, the cheers were 
deafening. Once the Princess half turned and looked 
back upon the Pier, at all the windows of which hats and 
handkerchiefs were waving ; and then slowly entering the 
saloon on the quarter-deck, was seen no more. 

Three-quarters of an hour elapsed from this time before 
the Royal party reappeared — an interval devoted to 
luncheon, but spent, doubtless, in the exchange of that 
affectionate intercourse attending a long parting interview 
between the bride and her father and brothers. When 
the Prince Consort reappeared, though grave and com- 
posed, it was evidently not without a struggle 3 but his 
young sons, the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, at- 
tempted not to conceal their grief — the latter wept bit- 
terly. Yfith them was Prince Frederick William, who 
shook hands heartily with the Prince Consort and his 
sons at parting. Lady Churchill and Viscount Sj^dney 
remained on board to accompany the Prince and Princess 
to Berlin. 

All then quitted the vessel, and remained standing at 
the head of the gangway while the Royal yacht cast off 
her hawsers and prepared to start. The Prince Consort, 
as though remembering something more he had desired to 
say, or anxious to take another farewell of those on 



VICTOBIA ADELAIDE MAEY LOUISA. 439 

board, had proceeded half down the gangway with that 
intention, when some other vessel of the squadron ran 
smash into the Terrace Pier, shaking it almost to its 
foundation, and smashing her own paddle-box to pieces. 
The shock was so violent, and the Prince himself so 
startled, that he hastened back up the gangway, which, 
like a bridge, led from the yacht to the Pier, at once aban- 
doning his intention of again going on board. At the 
same moment he caught hold of his sons, calling out, 
"Where is George?" meaning the Duke of Cambridge. 
Happily the Eoyal party regained the Pier without 
injury. 

Another incident, at the very same moment, had put in 
peril the vessel containing the Royal pair. The Victoria 
and Albert, in moving astern to bring her head round, 
drove on to the bowsprit of the Monkey tug-boat, which 
went through one of the plate-glass windows of the saloon » 
No further mischief, however, was done ; and the Eoyal 
yacht began to cast off, and swing with her head towards 
the centre of the river. The sullen boom of cannon an- 
nounced the departure of England's Eoyal Princess. The 
Prince Consort and Prince Frederick William waved their 
hands in token of farewell, and the young Princes, yield- 
ing to the sorrow of the parting scene, shed tears of natural 
grief; and as the snow, drifting thickly around, soon hid 
the vessel from sight, the Prince Consort and his sons- 
returned to their carriage, greeted on their passage by 
continued cheering. Having returned to the Eailway 
Station, they re-entered the train, and proceeded to Lon- 
don. 

A Eoyal squadron accompanied the Victoria and Albert 
down the river, the guns of Tilbury Fort firing a salute 
as they passed. 



140 THE ROYAL PEINCESSES. 

About thirteen miles from Gravesend, the Royal yacht 
ran into the stern of a barque, the Byhope, of Hartlepool, 
bearing up the river, and carried away the whole of her 
tafFrail. The Victoria and Albert slackened steam on the 
occurrence of the collision, which had been unavoidable, 
but, finding the injured vessel in no danger, proceeded on 
the voyage. 

There was so great a gale at Hamburg, and the snow- 
storm was so heavy on Tuesday morning, that great 
anxiety, was felt about the safe landing of the Royal 
couple, the French and Belgian mails not coming to hand 
as usual. The Victoria and Albert did not leave thelSTore 
till two o'clock on Wednesday, February 3rd, and was 
expected to have reached Antwerp between nine and ten. 
It, however, only arrived in the Scheldt at eleven, and did 
not reach Antwerp until four o'clock. 

The morning of Wednesday, February 3rd, broke forth 
enveloping Antwerp and the surrounding country in a thick 
fog, and no news as yet of the Royal squadron. The King 
of the Belgians, accompanied by the Duke de Brabant, the 
Count de Flandres, and a brilliant suite, arrived from Brus- 
sels at ten o'clock ; but the firing of the guns of Fort St. 
Lillo, nine miles below the city, at three o'clock, was the 
first signal of the approach of the Royal pair. The quays 
were thickly crowded with people, and flags of England, 
Prussia, and Belgium floated from the windows of the 
houses. The Victoria and Albert, with the Prussian flag 
at the main and the Union Jack at the fore, and tastefully 
decorated, moved slowly up amid the shouts of the spec- 
tators. She anchored in the centre of the river, nearly 
-opposite the Porte de l'Escaut, and was saluted by the 
guns of the citadel and by those of the Tete de Flandre. 
The Fairy passed between the Victoria and Albert and the 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MART LOUISA. 441 

quay, and dropped her anchor a little further up the river. 
Her example was followed by the Osborne and the Vivid. 
The Curagoa also steamed up in the same direction ; but 
before taking up her position by the side of her tiny con- 
sorts, she returned the salute of the citadel with two 
broadsides, which seemed almost to shake the earth. 

As soon as the firing had ceased, the King proceeded on 
board the Victoria and Albert, and, after exchanging affec- 
tionate greetings with the young Prince and Princess, gave 
them a hearty welcome to his dominions. Lord and Lady 
Howard de Walden also went on board the yacht, and 
offered their congratulations. A few minutes were spent 
in receiving the parting homage of the officers of the ship ; 
and the last word having been spoken, the Princess Royal 
was conducted by the King down the ladder to an elegant 
twelve-oared boat, painted white and gold. Prince Fre- 
derick William followed, and the ladies and gentlemen in 
attendance were landed in the boats belonging to the 
Royal yacht. The moment that the Princess left the side 
of the Victoria and Albert, the crew, officers and men, 
mounted the paddle-boxes, and gave three lusty cheers. 
The crews of the Curagoa, Fairy, Osborne, and Vivid also 
sent forth repeated and deafening " hurrahs !" in testimony 
of their loyalt} 7 " and affection. 

The Princess Royal was handed on shore and conducted 
to the carriage by the King, the Prince, her husband, fol- 
lowing between the two Belgian Princes. In her progress 
from the river-side she was greeted with the most enthu- 
siastic applause. She conversed with the King in a cheer- 
ful, lively manner, evidently none the worse for the voyage 
from Gravesend. Her dress was a light-coloured moire 
antique ; she wore a black velvet pelisse and grey silk 
bonnet, trimmed with flowers and cherry-coloured ribbons. 



442 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

All the Royal party, the Count de Flandres excepted, en- 
tered one carriage drawn by four beautiful bays, in which 
they proceeded to the Railway Station, and found a special 
train was in readiness to convey them to Brussels, where, 
on their arrival, the English National anthem, " God save 
the Queen," from the military band, saluted the travellers. 
Having graciously bowed their acknowledgments to the 
cordial greetings received from all sides, his Majesty, their 
Royal Highnesses and suites, entered the eight State 
carriages in waiting, and the cortege proceeded to the 
Palace by the Boulevards, under the escort of two squadrons 
of the Regiment of Guides. 

On arriving at the Palace, the Prince and Princess 
Frederick William were received by the Duchess of Bra- 
bant, surrounded by her ladies of honour, and the principal 
officers of the Ducal household. 

As the Royal travellers did not arrive till a quarter 
before seven o'clock, the dinner was postponed until eight. 
This delay, caused by the obstacles the English flotilla 
had encountered in the Scheldt, deranged the whole of the 
preparations made for ? the fete of the evening, it being 
nearly half-past nine o'clock when the Royal party entered 
the salle of the Diplomatic circle, when time had become 
so limited that no formal presentations could be made. His 
Majesty, the newly-married pair, the Duke and Duchess 
of Brabant, and Count of Flanders walked for some time 
through the Ball Room, saluting all persons whom they 
met. 

The fair young Bride was attired in a robe of rose silk, 
ornamented with tulle illusion, with roses on the skirt ; 
her head-dress, a crown of roses. The only jeweller}' worn 
by her was the magnificent necklace of thirty-six pearls 
presented to her by her husband. She had also formed, 



YICTOKIA ADELAIDE 1IAEY LOUISA. 443 

en sautoir, a large ribbon of blue moire embroidered with 
roses, the distinctive decoration of the Order of the Swan 
worn by the Prussian ladies. 

The ball was opened by their Poyal Highnesses, a 
quadrille being formed, in which the Duke of Brabant 
danced with the Princess Frederick William, and Prince 
Frederick William with the Princess de Ligne. 

At eleven o'clock the Eoyal party entered the Salle de 
Buffet, where exquisite refreshments were laid out in pro- 
fusion, amidst a forest of flowers of the rarest plants, and 
several jets of perfumed water. On their return to the 
Ball Room the dancing was renewed, and continued till the 
supper hour. 

After partaking of a truly regal supper, the King, 
Prince and Princess Frederick William, and the Duchess 
of Brabant, retired to their several apartments ; but danc- 
ing continued till half-past twelve, in the presence of the 
Belgian Princes. • At eight o'clock the following morning 
the bridal pair started for the Pail way Station, where a 
special train was in waiting to conduct them to Cologne. 
Escorted by two squadrons of the Guides, they occupied 
eight carriages. The King accompanied the bridal pair 
as far as the Pail way Station. The Duke of Brabant and 
Count of Flanders, and the Ministers Plenipotentiary of 
. England and Prussia, proceeded with them as far as the 
frontier, by Verviers. 

At Herbesthal the young couple were met by Count 
Pedern, deputed to convey to the young British Princess 
a welcome from the King of Prussia. As soon as she set 
foot for the first time on Prussian ground, a guard of 
honour of thirty men of the 28th (late the Duke of Wel- 
lington's Prussian regiment) presented arms. At the 
station also had assembled the General Commanding-in- 



ill THE !ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

chief of the Rhenish Provinces, Lord Bloomfield, and 
others. Here, too, a deputation from Eupeu, a town in 
the vicinity, was received by the Royal travellers. 

At Aix-la-Chapelle, the first Prussian town, a few hours 
only could be spent. The } f oung pair visited the Cathedral, 
built by Charlemagne, the Town Hall, and partook of a 
dejeuner. 

Aix-la-Chapelle was gaily adorned in honour of this 
occasion, flags and flowers ornamenting the streets. 

During their visit the military and civil authorities 
were presented, and some addresses. At Diireu they made 
a halt of a few minutes only, and proceeded to Cologne, 
where they had arranged to remain the night. The civil 
and military authorities received the travellers at the 
station ; and after viewing the Cathedral and other inte- 
resting objects, their Royal Highnesses partook of a late 
dinner. The evening was wound up at Cologne by a 
grand concert and ball : the latter was opened by their 
Royal Highnesses. 

The Royal couple resumed their journey at an early 
hour on Friday, through Deutz, Dusseldorf, andDeusburg, 
to Heme Bohun, at which station, being the frontier of 
the province of Westphalia, the General in command of 
the troops presented himself to pay his respects. From 
thence, through Dortmund, Bielefieid, Minden, and . 
Biickenburg to Hanover, where a short visit of a couple 
of hours was paid to the Hanoverian Court. The travel- 
lers proceeded to Brunswick-Oschersleben and Magdeburg, 
where they halted for the night, not arriving till eleven 
o'clock. 

Magdeburg was brilliantly illuminated on this memo- 
rable occasion, and the following morning a wedding 
present was offered by the town. This was a silver model 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MAET LOUISA. 445 

of the Market-place equestrian statue of the Emperor 
Otho L, founder cf Magdeburg, who married Editha, an 
English Princess. The model weighs half a hundred- 
weight, and cost about 5000 thalers, or 750Z. 

At twelve on Saturday the Koyal pair started again, to 
proceed by way of Brandenburg to Potsdam. This latter 
town was the birthplace of the Prince her husband. 

The Railway Station there was decorated in the most 
tasteful manner with the flags of the two countries : 
wreaths, flowers, and ribbons were intertwined, interlaced, 
and interspersed with every imaginable device and demon- 
stration of welcome and affection. The bridge that leads 
from the station into the town was so thoroughly orna- 
mented with evergreens, flags, &c, that it seemed as 
though it had been built solely for the purpose of decora- 
tion, and to afford the admiring lieges an opportunity of 
seeing to advantage the procession during the very limited 
space that it traversed. Over the gate of entrance to the 
bridge was an arch of evergreens, bearing on each side 
words of hearty greeting. 

From the seven bridges which cross the Havel Canal 
were waving the united flags of England and Prussia, and 
an immense concourse had assembled to witness the arrival 
of the bridal pair. On the Railway platform, close to the 
old station, were members of the Rifle Club, with their 
banners and a band of music. Next were stationed the 
various guilds of merchants and tradesmen, with banners, 
emblems, and a band of music. Then the members of the 
Magistrates' College, and other civil authorities. Opposite 
the spot where the Prince and his Bride were to alight 
were the Princes of the Blood, with their suite. Outside 
the Station stood the Royal equipages ; those of the 
officials, with the military escort. The artillery fired, the 
g a 



416 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

bells rang, and the Prussian National Hymn, with " God 
save the Queen," was struck up on the arrival of the 
Eoyal pair, who, on alighting, were warmly greeted by 
the members of their family. 

The Prince wore the uniform of an Infantry General,. 
with the scarf of the Order of the Black Eagle. The 
Princess was attired in a dark silk travelling-dress, a dark, 
shawl, and a green silk bonnet. The Prince of Prussia 
kissed his daughter-in-law very affectionately, embraced 
and kissed his son, and presented those of the Eoyal 
family as yet unknown to the Princess. The whole 
Eoyal party then withdrew into the reception-room of 
the Railway Station, where various high officers of the 
army and Court, who were in waiting, were introduced, 
and a loyal address was presented by the Head Burgo- 
master. 

After the Address, to which both Prince and Princess 
bowed their acknowledgments, and the representatives of 
Potsdam had been assured by his Eoyal Highness of his 
gratitude for the love expressed to them both by his 
native town, the bridal couple and their suite entered 
their carriages in waiting, and drove in procession into the 
town amidst enthusiastic cheers from the multitude. 

One remarkable feature in the entertainment provided 
on this occasion was the assemblage of a countless multi- 
tude of beautiful white swans, purposely collected by the 
Swan Master, and which were allured to remain beside the 
bridge over which the procession passed : — a novel spec- 
tacle, which much astonished and pleased the Princess. 

On alighting at the entrance of the Stadt Schloss, the 
young couple found the hall and marble staircase richly • 
decorated with flowers and shrubs and costly plants ; and 
here, at the top of the staircase, were the Princess of 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MART LOUISA. 447 

Prussia and all the Eoyal Princesses assembled to receive 
them, while the households of the different families ranged 
themselves along the stairs. The Princess Frederick 
William then entered the saloon of the G-reat Elector, a 
noble room, decorated with pictures and works of art; 
there the civil and military authorities were presented, 
and in an adjoining apartment their ladies. From the 
windows of the saloon the young couple, surrounded by 
their royal relatives, looked out on the procession of the 
trades' companies, which marched past with their bands, 
their flags, and their emblems. When the procession had 
all marched past, the Prince and Princess thanked the 
people for their exertions with a silent bow ; and the Royal 
party withdrew to a diner enfamille, which was served at 
four o'clock, in the strictest privacy. 

At half-past eight that evening, their Eoyal Highnesses 
the Prince and Princess Frederick William, with the 
whole of the Eoyal family, household, and distinguished 
visitors, repaired to the Theatre, to witness the grand 
Festival Performance of "Yon Hundert Jahren," by the 
leading artists of the Theatre Royal of Berlin. This 
piece, rich in military reminiscences of the past century, 
is said to have been selected for the express entertainment 
of the fair Bride by Prince Frederick William, in order 
that the heroes of Frederick the Great's time, " in their 
habits as they lived," might appear before the eyes of the 
youthful Princess. The entertainment was strictly a 
soiree d 'invitation given by the Court, and no money 
could have purchased a seat on the occasion. Their Eoyal 
Highnesses the Prince and Princess Frederick William 
were received, on entering their box, with tremendous 
cheering. 

In the evening the town was brilliantly illuminated. 
a a 2 



448 THE ROYAL PETKCESSES. 

The performance at the Theatre had been intended for 
the Sunday evening, but was altered to the Saturday, in 
consideration of the English feelings as regarded the 
Sabbath. 

The bridal pair attended Divine service on Sunday at the 
Garnison Kirche, where Dr. Krummacher preaches. The 
Municipality of Potsdam afterwards waited on them to 
present them with a silver tazza, as an offering from 
the town ; the Kaufmannschaft, or Guild of Merchants, 
made also a present ; an Address was presented by the 
Jewish community, and another by the Eifle Guild ; from 
the young girls of Potsdam, a copy of verses. 

The Prince and Princess left Potsdam next morning at 
an early hour, and, stopping at the halfway station, Zeh- 
lendorf, on their way to Berlin, they entered the carriages 
which were in waiting there for them and their suite, and 
drove to Bellevue Palace. In all the villages they passed 
through in this short drive, there were festal preparations 
made for their reception, triumphal arches, bands of young 
girls in white, flowers showered on them, and poems recited 
to the full extent the time would admit of. In the village 
of Schoneberg, forty Bauern (small freeholders) received 
the bridal cortege, mounted on excellent horses, with 
saddlecloths and head-gear in the English colours, con- 
ducted it throughout the whole of their district, and left 
it only on the confines of Berlin. 

In one point of the route, prior to entering the town 
the people threw flowers into the carriage as the Princess 
passed, for which she bowed her smiling acknowledgments. 

At Bellevue Palace the King and Queen surprised the 
young couple with a visit, instead of allowing them to go 
out of their way to Charlottenburg, to call upon them. 
As soon as the near approach of the Prince and Princess 



TICTOEIA ADELAIDE MABX LOUISA. 449 

was announced, the King left the apartments where they 
were waiting, and went to the bottom of the staircase to 
meet his niece. The delighted Princess stooped to kiss 
his Majesty's hand ; but the King, anticipating her inten- 
tion, took her in his arms and kissed her, exclaiming with 
emotion, " How delightful this is ! Here you are at last !" 
He then led her up into the Palace, where the Queen also 
received her very affectionately. 

When the young couple left Bellevue, the King returned 
to Charlottenburg, while her Majesty hastened by a detour 
to arrive at the Schloss in Berlin, in time to receive her 
niece, in common with the other members of the Eoyal 
family — a circumstance which, not being either pre- 
arranged or expected, was the more gratifying. 

At Bellevue, the Princess made her final arrangements 
of the toilette prior to her entry into Berlin, exchanging 
her travelling dress for the splendid costume in which she 
appeared in the grand procession. 

Half an hour after arriving at Bellevue, the troops 
destined to escort the Eoyal party into the city had 
assembled in front of the building, while the Butchers 
and other Corporations of Berlin, all mounted, occupied 
the adjoining allee, and all the space lying between it and 
the "Kleinen Stern Platz." On the arrival of the Eoyal 
cortege at the " Kleinen Stern Platz," a halt was made to 
receive the Festival Poem of the Butchers' Company, 
which was duly placed on a velvet cushion by " Slaughter 
Master" Oppen, who, with his Guild, moved on afterwards 
in advance of the procession, towards the Brandenburger 
Gate. 

The Butchers were indebted to an act of gallantry per- 
formed during the Seven Years' War, for the privilege of 
going out on horseback to meet the Princess Eoyal. 



150 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Berlin, at one period of that eventful struggle, being 
divested of its entire garrison by Frederick the Great, for 
the services of a distant campaign, it was found desirable 
that the Princess Amelia, the King's sister, should be 
conducted to a place of safety. In the absence of a mili- 
tary escort, the Butchers' Guild offered their services, and, 
in fact, did escort the fair Princess to Magdeburg. In 
acknowledgment of the service, Princess Amelia of Prussia 
embroidered them a nag with her own Royal hands, and 
the King conferred on them the privilege of escorting in 
future any Princess who, on such a festive occasion as that 
just mentioned, should make a formal entry into the town. 
Honour to whom honour is due ! This Guild must have 
had much reason to pique themselves on their own pro- 
minent position in the civic pageant above described. 

In Berlin, at the corner of each avenue of the Linden 
promenade, from the Brandenburg Gate up to about the 
centre, were high wooden monuments painted in imitation 
of marble, and bearing flowers, banners, flags, emblems, 
and plaster busts of the Princess Frederick William and 
all the Royal family. Further on towards the Royal 
Palace, were furze-clothed flagstaff's with streamers ; and 
across the Schloss Briicke were suspended, from the vessels 
lying at either side of the bridge, immense garlands, from 
which depended myriad-coloured fancy-lamps, and an alle- 
gorical transparency bearing an inscription denoting a 
hearty welcome. This was a greeting from the Canal 
Navigation Company of Berlin. All the temporary tri- 
bunes erected on every available spot upon the line of 
procession were lined with pink calico and muslin, and 
decorated externally with banners, wreaths, garlands, &c, 
&c. Rugs and carpets were suspended, moreover, from 
the fronts of the houses. 



YICTOBIA ADELAIDE MAHY LOUISA. 451 

To the right of the Brandenburg Gate were stationed 
the members of the Church and Magistracy, the Corpora- 
tion, and a deputation from the merchants of Berlin. 
Exactly opposite were the Poor-law Commissioners, paro- 
chial authorities, and other civil officials. These two tri- 
bunes contained 600 persons. The grand City Tribune, 
holding 2600, was erected between the Palace of the 
Prince of Prussia and the Eoyal Opera House, and gor- 
geously decorated by the Magistracy : its occupants were 
the families of officials. Another tribune, opposite the 
Palace, held the members of both Houses of Parliament, 
amounting to four hundred. Many other tribunes were 
erected, too numerous to be mentioned, for the accommo- 
dation of the public generally ; altogether, the Linden- 
Strasse presented a brilliant and imposing spectacle. 

Near the gold-fish pond were ranged the children of the 
Orphans' Charity School, the girls belonging to which 
presently ran before the Eoyal carriage strewing flowers. 
Near these were the British residents, headed by Lord 
Ponsonby, and carrying their national banner. Next to 
them were the civil and military officers destined to 
receive the Eoyal travellers at the gates of the town. On 
the Pariser-Platz just inside the gate were the Head Bur- 
gomaster and chief civic dignitaries of Berlin. 

On the approach of the Eoyal cortege, a murmuring sound 
rose louder and louder as it approached, and became over- 
whelming to the ears. Shouts of exultation arose on 
every side, hats and handkerchiefs waving from all points, 
and "God save the Queen" was played by the band, and 
responded to by the human mass in one universal chorus. 
" Never was grander welcome given to man or woman !" 

The beloved centre of this homage, the sweet young 
Princess, looked extremely well, and appeared to take a 



152 T1IE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

deep interest in this her triumphal entry into her future 
home. 

On the arrival of the wedded pair at the Brandenburg^ 
Gate, the Chief Burgomaster addressed them in terms of 
the most cordial welcome. 

When the Royal procession had passed slowly by, the 
Rifle Corps and various Guilds followed in their appointed 
order, bands of music preceding each different trade. Only 
one trade was absent — the printers — the very one to 
which Prince Frederick William belongs ; for, in com- 
pliance with an old custom in the Prussian Royal family, 
every Prince must learn a trade, and that of a com- 
positor was the one chosen by his Royal Highness. The 
Trades' Companies carried emblems of their handicraft 
which in some cases consisted of the most elaborate 
models. 

The State carriage was met at the foot of the Palace 
steps by the Princes of the Royal house, all of whom 
eagerly approached the vehicle to assist the Princess to 
alight. Her Royal Highness was attired in a heav}^ 
white moire antique robe, an ermine tippet, and a diadem 
of diamonds. The family greetings at the foot of the 
staircase were most cordial. The Princess, leaning upon 
the arm of her young husband, and familiarly conversing 
in a joyous tone with the surrounding Princes, at once 
proceeded to the so-called White Saloon, where she was 
received by the assembled Princesses of the Blood-royal. 
Thence she was conducted by the entire company into the 
so-called Red Saloon, where all the chief officers of State, 
with the Knights of the Black Eagle in gala costume, 
were assembled to welcome the illustrious pair. Here the 
company remained for some time, and the Prince and 
Princess appeared no less than three times on the balcony 



TICTOEIA ADELAIDE MAET LOTTISA. 45S 

to acknowledge the enthusiastic welcome of the masses 
assembled without the Palace. 

The "White Saloon" of the Palace, in which the Royal 
dinner party took place after the arrival of the Prince and 
his Bride, is in length 105 feet, breadth 51 feet, and 
height 41 feet. The walls are of pure white, delicately 
veined with gold. The decorations and handles of the 
doors are of massive silver. Twelve pillars of Carrara 
marble support twelve statues (by Eggers) of the Electors 
of the House of Hohenzollern. Immediately under the 
richly-ornamented ceiling are eight colossal statues, sus- 
tained by groups of caryatides, and symbolically repre- 
senting Peace, Faith, Love ; and Glory ; and a little lower 
clown, ten figures, likewise in bas-relief, symbolizing the 
various arts and sciences. The floor is of rare and costly 
woods ; and to all these splendours were added on the 
present occasion six entirely new r pictures illustrative of 
the eight Prussian provinces, and emblematical of the 
means by which a nation may become great and happy. 
The royal dinner-table, which extended the whole length 
of the saloon, was lighted by a hundred massive and gor- 
geous lustres. 

Her Royal Highness Princess Frederick William was 
attired in a white robe of moire antique, an ermine cape, a 
diadem of brilliants, and a splendid velvet train, embroi- 
dered with silver, supported by two pajps. 

At the dinner, the Prince of Prussia rose and gave the 
toast — " Their Majesties the King and the Queen, her 
Majesty the Queen of England and his Eoyal Highness 
the Prince Consort;" and again, after some little time, 
" The auspicious matrimonial alliance of Prussia and 
Great Britain, and the illustrious newly-married couple." 
After the banquet was over, and the guests had retired, 



454i THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

the Royal family, together with their numerous relations 
present, drove ahout the town in a cortege of twenty car- 
riages to view the very extensive and brilliant illumina- 
tions, and were everywhere received by the people with 
the most hearty and vociferous expressions of joy, after 
which the whole party took tea en famille at the Prince 
of Prussia's Palace. 

The Schloss, the Palaces of the different Royal Princes, 
the Ministerial hotels, and all the public buildings in the 
town, were illuminated on the night of the entry of the 
newly-married couple into Berlin. The Victoria, in the 
Bradenburg Thor, was lit up with electric light ; the 
colossal statue of Frederick the Great, and other monu- 
ments at the west end of the town, were illuminated with 
gas. 

One of the most admirable instances of public rejoicing 
was that afforded by the popular place of entertainment 
known as Kroll's Garten, for which, on Monday evening, 
February 10th, 3000 free tickets of admission had been 
distributed to the military, the receivers of public charity, 
and the operatives. A prize dramatic composition, en- 
titled Victoria JRegia, was performed in honour of the 
Princess. " This rare and costly plant is discovered growing 
on an island, and guarded by Neptune, but is nevertheless 
carried off by Amor ; at which the deit}^ of the Trident is, 
in his wrath, about to exhibit all the terrors of his winds 
and waves to impede the passage of the lovers across his 
domain, when Minerva interferes and explains the matter 
to his complete pacification ; on which the winds cease 
blowing, the waves cease tossing, and English and Prussian 
vessels are seen crossing the Channel, joyously sporting all 
possible canvass and bunting. Borussia and Britannia meet 
and congratulate each other on the happiness and auspicious 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MARY LOUISA. 455 

union of their children ; the ciphers of the Bride and 
Bridegroom, surmounted by a crown, appear in jets of 
Hame ; and the orchestra striking up the joint national 
hymns, the whole audience rise and join vociferously in 
patriotic harmony." 

The poor in the workhouses and sick in the hospitals 
were not unbared for on a day of such general rejoicing. 

The new Palace destined for the future residence of the 
Royal pair was nearly completed on their arrival. 

The present abode of the Prince and Princess Frederick 
William is known under the name of the old King's 
Palace ; it was built originally for the Commandant of 
Berlin, but in 1734 was assigned by Frederick William I. 
to his son, afterwards Frederick the Great, who, on com- 
ing to the throne, destined it to become the residence of 
all future Crown Princes, and affixed to it the inscription, 
" Palais du Prince Royal de Prusse." His own brother 
next in age, August William, occupied it as a residence ; 
and after him Frederick William III., his son, who took 
possession of it on the morning of his marriage, in 1793, 
and, with the exception of the years of disaster to Prussia, 
never quitted it till the time of his death. 

On the morning of the 10th of February there was a de- 
jeuner dinatoire in the apartments of the Prince andPrincess 
Frederick William, after which the Royal pair received 
the congratulations of sixty young ladies, unmarried 
daughters of the various municipal officers of the city, 
dressed in bridal array. Owing to the extreme coldness of 
the weather the customary ceremonial of these young 
girls receiving the Bride at the gates of the town in 
bridal costume was dispensed with. The Princess 
Royal, however, subsequently expressed her wish that the 
youthful party should be admitted to present their Address 



456 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

the next day after the entry, at the Schloss, which was 
accordingly done. The young ladies being drawn up in a 
semicircle, the Prince led in the Princess on his arm, on 
which Fraiilein Krausnick, stepped forward, and, with a 
few suitable words, presented to the Princess a poem in 
the name of the City, beautifully bound and illustrated, 
and lying on a velvet cushion encircled by a wreath of 
flowers ; after which Fraiilein Nannyn, addressed the 
Prince and Princess in a short poem written for the occa- 
sion : a brooch has since been presented to the young 
ladies, bearing the portraits of the bridal couple, in high 
relief, on a medallion of circular form, encompassed by the 
chain of the Order of the Black Eagle, and supported with 
the Prussian Crown. After the Prince and Princess had 
thanked the young ladies, and shaken the two spokeswomen 
by the hand, the semicircle opened, and displayed to view 
the noble present which the City of Berlin had prepared 
for the young couple, and which was here mounted on a 
table, backed by a deputation of the municipality. It 
consisted of a silver vase about four feet high, on the body 
of which is represented in relief the festal entry of 
the Prince and Princess into Berlin, somewhat idealized, 
but containing about seventy portraits, not only of the 
prominent members of the Municipality, but also of the 
present notabilities of art and science in Berlin. The vase 
stands on a silver slab four inches thick and thirty inches 
in diameter, on which a plan of Berlin as it now is, is en- 
graved, the outer border surrounding it bearing the em- 
blazonries peculiar to each district of the town, and the 
inner containing the names of the municipal authorities of 
the time being. This silver plate stands on a pedestal 
thirty-four inches high, so that in the whole this centre- 
piece is full seven feet in height, to which also the height 



VICTOKIA ADELAIDE MARY LOUISA. 457 

of the branch candelabra corresponds. The weight of the 
whole four pieces amounts to about 5 cwt. ; the entire cost 
has been 30,000 thalers, and the intrinsic value of the 
silver contained in it about 14,000 thalers. The Chief 
Burgomaster, the same who delivered the spirited Address 
of the day before, begged their Boyal Highnesses' accep- 
tance of this offering in the name of the City of Berlin, 
and explained the intention of the artist in the allegorical 
forms introduced ; on which the Prince answered : — 

" I am extremely glad, gentlemen, that I have an op- 
portunity to-day to express to you in my own and the 
Princess's name the thanks which we feel towards the City 
of Berlin for the great gratification it gave us on our entry 
yesterday. It was impossible for us then to give utterance 
to our thanks. We were then rendered incapable of doing 
so by that which moved us both so deeply — by the extent 
of the lively interest and sympathy which manifested 
itself for us so uninterruptedly. Our entire journey has 
afforded us most touching proofs of attachment, and the 
festal reception in Berlin has formed a worthy keystone 
and finishing stroke to the whole, and will for ever remain 
unforgotten by myself and my wife. And this splendid 
present, for which we have further to present to you our 
most hearty thanks, shall remain as a pledge that the 
feelings that now exist between us shall remain un- 
changed." 

The Princess added a few words of acknowledgment ; 
and after a few cordial interchanges of kind expression on 
all sides, the deputation withdrew, to make room for the 
members of the two Houses of Diet, who came up to pre- 
sent Addresses to their Boyal Highnesses. 

On the same morning the Prince and Princess Frederick 
William also received a deputation from the Academy of 



45S THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Sciences, when an eloquent Address was delivered by the 
Chief Secretary. A brief but pithy answer was made by 
the Prince. 

The Clergy of Berlin came, headed by one of the King's 
chaplains, to congratulate the newly- married pair, and to 
present them with a Bible, which it has of late been cus- 
tomary for every bridal couple to receive from the hands 
of the clergyman on the celebration of their nuptials. 

Then came a deputation from all the Universities in 
Prussia — that from the Berlin University being the most 
numerous-— which delivered a Latin oration to their Royal 
Highnesses; and from the answer to which, given by Prince 
Frederick William, we discovered that the Princess is a 
good Latin scholar, having been instructed in that lan- 
guage simultaneously with her Royal brothers. 

The Academy of Arts, in an Address through its Secre- 
tary, laid claim to the right of enrolling the Princess 
among its members, seeing that her talent as a composer 
and draughtswoman entitled her to be received among 
them. It was the Princess Royal of England who, some 
time before, had contributed a spirited drawing to the Ex- 
hibition for the benefit of the Crimean Fund, which sold 
for two hundred guineas. Having been requested to set 
her own value on the work of art, the young Princess 
modestly inquired wlieiher it ivoulcl really he too much to 
expect a pound for it ? It is well known what multitudes 
thronged to an exhibition containing the productions of 
her genius. 

On the 11th the English residents at Berlin presented 
their Address, the deputation being introduced by Lord 
Bloomfield, and the Address, beautifully illustrated and 
illuminated, and bound in blue velvet. 

A deputation of ci-devant officers of the 1st Regiment of 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MAET LOUISA. 459 

Foot Guards came next — and then the Committee for the 
erection and decoration of the Oedenke Halle, which is to 
be fitted up in the new Palace as a votive offering from the 
Arts and industry of Berlin. 

The new building — to be erected at the expense of the 
city, to commemorate the great " Einholung's" ceremony, 
is to consist of an octagon with a cupola, in which will 
be the only windows. Immediately opposite the principal 
entrance is to be placed a large picture, representing the 
meeting of Wellington and Blucher after the Battle of 
Waterloo. Xext to this will be two other pictures — one 
delineating the landing of King William III. in England, 
and his reception by the Prince Regent, afterwards 
George IY. (1816) ; the other, his Majesty Frederick 
William IY., assisting as godfather at the christening of 
the Prince of Wales. 

The order of the festivities was — after the dejeuner 
dinatoire at one, the cour at seven, and a Polonnaise ball 
in the White Saloon at eight o'clock, which last must in- 
deed have been a truly magnificent spectacle. 

The throne has been removed, and under its canopy, 
which remained, a small carpet was laid to mark the spot 
where the bridal couple would stand, the Royal Princesses 
stretching away in a curved line to the left of the Prince, 
the Royal Princes occupying a semicircle to the right of 
the Princess ; the space not occupied by royalty left open 
to the eye the highest nobility of Prussia and the Corps 
Diplomatique, with their ladies. The space kept open 
within the circle, marked out by pages stationed at in- 
tervals, was, perhaps, no larger than the largest London 
drawing-room ; but the entire space behind the favoured 
foremost line was filled in with some fifteen thousand of 
the flower of the Prussian nation. 



4G0 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

The Princess wore a white silk or moire dress, em- 
broidered down the front with silver in a pattern, repre- 
senting the twigs or branches of a rose-tree, and at each 
point w T here the bud might be supposed to form in 
nature, a rose of pink crape, as it appeared to be, grew 
out of the dress. The same with the rich pink robe and 
train, the greater part of which was thickly set with pink 
roses, and was carried by two pages, and held out to its 
full extent, apparently about twelve feet long. The pearl 
necklace, the present of her illustrious husband, consisting, 
as we have said, of thirty-six large pearls, and a tiara of 
diamonds, composed the entire ornaments the Princess 
wore. Appended to the left shoulder, however, was an 
Order, consisting of a medal suspended from a bow of black 
and white ribbon, which had just been conferred on her by 
the Queen. 

After advancing into the saloon, preceded by pages, 
chamberlains, and the gentlemen of their own household, 
the Prince and Princess took up their position on the 
reserved carpet beneath the canopy, and, permission having 
been accorded by the Prince of Prussia to the High Cham- 
berlain, Count Redern, the Prince and Princess opened the 
ball by advancing and making their obeisances to the 
Prince and then to the Princess of Prussia, and sub- 
sequently to the company generally while passing round 
the open circle, preceded by the Chamberlains, &c. After 
two rounds the Princess was led round by each of her 
Royal uncles and cousins, the Grand Duke of Saxe- 
Weimar, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburgh-Strelitz, the 
Duke of Saxe-Coburg, and various other relatives, the 
assembled company receiving and returning their obei- 
sances as they passed round, the orchestra playing the 
while a Faclceltanz composed by Count Re'dern, and then 



YTCTOKIA ADELAIDE MART LOUISA. 461 

the " Wedding March" from Mendelssohn's Midsummer 
JSfighfs Dream. When the Princess had at length " trod 
a measure" with each of her male relatives of Royal 
lineage, the Prince went through the same series of evolu- 
tions with his female relatives, commencing with his 
mother, the Princess of Prussia, each of the ladies' trains 
being borne by two pages at full length, as had been the 
case also with the Princess Frederick William. With this 
the dance closed, which had been in fact the MtcJceltanz 
usually performed at the Prussian Court on occasion of 
Royal marriages, with the omission of the tapers and the 
substitution of Chamberlains, &c, in the place of the 
Ministers of State. The practical purpose of this Court 
ceremony was to introduce the Bride to the whole assem- 
bled Court, and show the latter to the Bride in all its 
pomp. 

On Thursday evening, February 11th, the Prince and 
Princess of Prussia gave a very brilliant soiree to about 
2000 of the most distinguished persons in Prussia. The 
Prince and Princess Frederick William appeared about 
half-past eight o'clock, soon after which a Polonaise was 
commenced, in which the Prince of Prussia led the Princess 
Frederick William ; the ball was then considered opened, 
and the series of appointed dances commenced. 

The celebrated " Fackel Zug" must be mentioned here. 

A number of young students, amounting to 950, from 
the Berlin University, the Frederick William Institution, 
the Architectural and Polytechnic Schools, assembled on 
the night of the 13th of February, bearing large torches, 
upon the Pariser-Platz, opposite the Brandenburg Gate, 
and having formed in order, proceeded along the Linden- 
street to the Royal Palace accompanied with bands of 
music. 

H H 



462 THE EOTAL PEINCESSES. 

On arriving at the Palace, a deputation proceeded to the 
chambers of the Prince and Princess Frederick William, 
while the students who were stationed without sang in 
full chorus the Prussian National Hymn, " God save the 
Queen," and a new Lied, written expressly for the occa- 
sion, interspersing their performance with, enthusiastic 
" Hurrahs," and " Hochs." When the deputation returned, 
the members of the procession moved forward till they 
arrived at the Donhofs-Platz, when they extinguished 
their torches with great solemnity, singing, " Graudeamus 
igitur," with a full chorus, in which the assembled multi- 
tude joined with much zest. 

The Prince and Princess Frederick William have since 
published the following lines addressed to the whole popu- 
lation of Prussia : — 

" From the very first moment of our setting foot on 
the soil of our country, after our marriage, there have 
been so many valuable proofs of sincere interest in our 
happiness shown us unremittingly, that the remembrance 
of them will remain indelible in our hearts for our whole 
lives. 

" It has only been to very few that we could in person 
express our feelings, and sufficiently thank for all the 
manifestations and presents. In speaking thus our thanks 
to-day to the whole country, we do so with the ardent 
prayer to God that He will confer on our dear country 
His most ample blessings, now and for ever. 

" Feiedkich Wilhelm, Prince of Prussia. 
" Victoria, Princess of Prussia. 

« Berlin, February 19th." 

The Princess Frederick William has placed 1000 thalers 
at the disposal of the municipal authorities for distribution 



YICTOEIA ADELAIDE MAET LOUISA. 463 

among the poor ; she has also sent 300 thalers to the town 
of Potsdam for the same purpose. The letter which ac- 
companied the gift to the City of Berlin is as follows : — 

" Mr. Burgomaster, — The reception that has been given 
to my husband and myself in Berlin was one so beautiful 
and so festal, the city and all its inhabitants have taken so 
lively an interest in it, that my heart experiences the ne- 
cessity of finding some expression for the warm gratitude 
it feels. Will you be the exponent of these, my feelings, to 
the city and its population ? 

" They are feelings which I owe in no less measure for 
the hearty reception and welcome in all the towns, and 
every place that we touched in our journey hither, than 
for proofs of interest from all the provinces of the king- 
dom. This country, in which I have long taken a most 
lively interest, has by its friendly advances, made it 
doubly easy for me to feel myself at home in it as belong- 
ing to it. 

" I believe I act conformably to the feelings of the 
population of the capital in herewith sending you, Mr. 
Burgomaster, as a token of my sentiments, a sum for 
the poor of Berlin, the distribution of which among 
worthy recipients, I venture to beg the magistracy to 
undertake, with full confidence in the correctness of its 
application. 

" To this end I will also make over to the magistracy 
for their consideration, the applications for relief which 
have been made to me. 

" Your well-affectioned 

" VICTORIA. 

" Princess Priedrich Wilhelm von Preussen, Princess 
Koyal of Great Britain and Ireland." 
h h 2 



464 THE HOYAL PRINCESSES. 

There is great originality of character in the Princess 
Royal, and she studiously maintains the habits she ac- 
quired in England. 

In Prussia there is great strictness of etiquette observed 
in every-day life. A Prussian Princess, for instance, is not 
allowed by her mistress of the robes to take up a chair, 
and, after having carried it through the whole breadth of 
the room, to put it down in another corner. Princess 
Victoria was caught by the Countess Perponcher com- 
mitting such an act. The venerable lady remonstrated 
against this act with a considerable degree of earnestness. 
" I'll tell you what, my dear Countess," replied the 
Princess ; " you are probably aware of the fact of my 
mother being the Queen of England ?" The' Countess 
bowed. "Well," resumed the Princess, "then I must 
reveal to you another fact. Her Majesty the Queen of 
Great Britain and Ireland has, not once, but very often, so 
far forgotten herself as to take up a chair. I speak from 
personal observation, I can assure you. Nay, if I am not 
greatly deceived, I noticed one day my mother carrying a 
chair in each hand in order to set them for her children. 
Now, let me ask, do you really think that my dignity 
forbids anything which is frequently done by the Queen 
of England?" The Countess bowed again, but could 
make no reply. 

At another time the Countess Perponcher took the 
Princess by surprise, when arranging and stowing away 
a quantity of linen in one of her apartments ; and here 
again her arguments met with a similar reproof. 

The Princess indeed effected a general reform in the 
habits of her household. The chambermaids were used to 
clean their rooms in silk dresses. One morning the 
Princess summoned them to her presence, and after as- 



YICTOEIA ADELAIDE 1TAET LOUISA. 465 

suring them that the expense of such clothes must exceed 
their wages, which she had no intention of raising, sug- 
gested the use of cotton dresses as more economical ; 
adding, to make her meaning quite clear, " There ought, 
you know, to be a difference in the description of dress 
worn by mistress and servant. I do not want to hurt 
your feelings, but you will understand my intention at 
once when I tell you that I wish to follow the practice 
observed at the English Court in these matters." 

Her Majesty and the Prince Consort visited their be- 
loved daughter in her new home soon after her marriage. 
They embarked at Gravesend August 10th, 1858, and after 
passing the mouth of the Scheldt, they steamed next day 
to Antwerp, wheDce King Leopold's carriages conveyed 
them to the Brussels and Cologne railway station. At 
Malines they were* joined by the King and the Duke and 
Duchess of Brabant, who accompanied them to Verviers. 
At Aix-la-Chapelle the Prince of Prussia met their 
Boyal Highnesses, who thence proceeded to Dusseldorf, 
where they were entertained by the Prince and Princess 
of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen. After a night passed in 
the Brutenbach Hof they set off for Berlin, passing 
through several of the lesser German States as well as 
Hanover. The Koyal travellers were received and hos- 
pitably entertained at Herrenhaussen by the King and 
Queen of Hanover. At Magdeburgh Prince Frederick- 
William awaited the arrival of these illustrious guests, 
and escorted them on to Potsdam. On arrival at the 
small station at the Wild Park the Queen met and cor- 
dially embraced her daughter. 

The Queen and Prince Consort were entertained with 
great magnificence by the Prince of Prussia and Court 
circle ; but they took up their residence at the house of 



466 THE EOYAL PEIKCESSES. 

their son-in-law and daughter. After viewing many things 
worthy of attention in and around Potsdam, her Majesty 
and the Prince Consort quitted Babelsberg on Sunday, 
September 29th, for England. Passing through Cologne, 
they embarked at Antwerp for Dover, whence on the fol- 
lowing Tuesday they proceeded to Osborne, arriving there 
on the evening of the same day. 

We have now to record that the Princess Frederick 
William gave birth to a son on 27th January, 1859, 
at three p.m., which happy intelligence was received 
by the Queen of England at Windsor Castle just six 
minutes after the occurrence. Subsequent communications 
certified the fact that the young mother and her Eoyal 
babe were progressing favourably. 

It is perhaps needless to add that great joy was shown 
by the inhabitants of Windsor on this occasion. The 
bells of the Chapel Eoyal of St. George and St. John's 
Church sent forth merry peals on the same evening. 

We take the following account of the infant Prince's 
baptism, which took place on the 5th March, from the 
official Gazette : — 

" The baptism of the prince born on the 27th of 
January, son of his Eoyal Highness Prince Frederick 
William of Prussia, took place this day at one o'clock. 
Dr. Strauss, principal Court Chaplain, assisted by several 
other clergymen, officiated. The young Prince received 
the names of Frederick William Victor Albert. The fol- 
lowing distinguished persons were present — The Prince 
Eegent of Prussia and the Princess his wife ; the Prince 
and Princess Charles of Prussia, the Prince and Princess 
Frederick Charles of Prussia, the Princes Albrecht, father 
and son, Alexander George and Adalbert of Prussia, the 
Grand Duke of Saxe- Weimar, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE MARY LOUISA. 467 

and Gotha, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess of 
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and Prince Hohenzollern." 

The Prince Begent held the Boyal babe at the bap- 
tismal font, the young mother witnessing the ceremony 
from an apartment the doors of which opened into the 
chapel. When the baptism was over, the Grand Mistress 
of the Household, Countess Perponcher, took the child to 
its mother, and all the company followed to present their 
congratulations. 

In celebration of this event the streets were decked 
with flags and garlands, and at night the entire city was 
illuminated. Among the handsomest public edifices was 
the Hotel de Yille, which was lighted up by more than 
50,000 jets of gas, and in all the theatres a gala represen- 
tation was given. 

The following announcement on the part of the Royal 
parents was published also in the Berlin Gazette, which 
bore their signature — 

" The birth of our son has been hailed in all parts of 
the country with such heart}'' demonstrations of sympathy 
as will never be forgotten in our parental hearts. And 
this, we freely acknowledge, was but a sequel to the warm 
reception with which we were greeted a year ago, on entering 
Berlin as a newly-married pair. For all these demonstra- 
tions of joy, and hearty congratulations, we think we 
cannot do better than return our sincerest thanks on so 
appropriate an occasion as the present, when the holy rite 
of baptism has been administered to our beloved child. 
May we succeed, under God's assistance, in educating our 
son for the honour and welfare of our dear fatherland ! 

" Berlin, 5th March, 1859." 

We have before remarked that the Princess keeps 



1-6S THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

up all her old habits and vocations. She paints very 
well ; is a very good musician ; reads much ; takes an active 
interest in household matters. She is very fond of gar- 
dening, and is in the habit, when writing to her family, of 
giving careful directions for the training, pruning, and 
manuring of the favourite trees and shrubs all planted 
with her own hands in her gardens at Windsor and at 
Osborne. 

One lady who was much at the English Court, says she 
has often seen her, before her marriage, coming in after an 
hour or two of hard work among her garden pets, wibh 
her apron full of green peas or early potatoes, which she 
was carrying to the kitchen, with an injunction that they 
were to be sent up in a dish by themselves to the Queen. 
Another relates how she has often seen her busy among 
the pans of milk and cream, in her private dairy, or with 
her arms covered with flour up to the elbows, deep in the 
manufacture of cakes and pies in the beautiful little 
kitchen set apart for the special use of the royal children, 
where they mixed up dough, whipped syllabubs, baked, 
boiled, stewed, and did just as they pleased ; the milk and 
butter, the eggs and the fruit, being all of their own 
raising. ! 

The birth of a Princess of Prussia next claims mention. 
This event took place at Potsdam, July 24, I860, at ten 
in the morning. 

The infant received the baptismal names of Victoria 
Elizabeth Augusta Charlotte. She is most commonly 
styled by the latter name. 

Two months afterwards her Majesty and the Prince 
Consort, with Princess Alice, left England, on September 
22nd, in the Victoria and Albert, reaching Antwerp on the 
following evening. The King of the Belgians visited his 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE HART LOUISA. 469 

niece the next day, on board the vessel, and escorted her 
through his dominions. At Aix-la-Chapelle the Royal 
party was joined by the Prince Regent of Prussia, who 
accompanied them on a part of their way to Frankfort. 
At that city the Princess of Prussia and the Grand Duchess 
of Baden awaited their arrival. They reached Coburg on 
the 25th, where they were received by their hosts the Duke 
and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and it was there that 
they had the happiness of again beholding their beloved 
child, Princess Frederick William, who, with her husband, 
was anxiously expecting their arrivial. 

The festivities which were at first planned to welcome 
these illustrious guests were arrested by the death of the 
Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, which cast a veil of 
sadness over all rejoicings. 

The Royal visitors remained at Coburg till October 10th, 
when they departed on their return to England. 

The loss of her grandmother, the Duchess of Kent, was 
a sad source of onief to the Princess. This distressing 
event followed very rapidly on the decease of the Dowager 
Duchess of Saxe-Coburg. 

After the funeral of the Duchess of Kent, in March, 
1861, the Court removed to Osborne in July. It was at 
that time that the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia, 
with their children, Prince William and Princess Char- 
lotte, accompanied the Royal family to the latter place. 

When the death of the much-lamented Prince Consort 
occurred, December 14th, 1861, his daughter, the Princess 
Royal, was at Berlin, and prevented by recent severe in- 
disposition from travelling. Indeed, the death of the 
Prince followed too soon on the discovery of his danger for 
such a journey to have availed. 

Prince Frederick William arrived in England on this 



470 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

sad occasion, and returned to Berlin on December 26th, 
from Windsor. Though he had travelled all night, the 
Crown Prince visited his Royal parents without loss of 
time. 

The Council and Magistrates of Berlin presented an 
Address of Condolence to the Princess Royal upon the 
death of Prince Albert, to which she replied in the fol- 
lowing words : — 

" For the sympathy you have expressed towards me 
after the heavy stroke of fate which has afflicted the Royal 
family and the people of England, and which has been the 
bitterest sorrow of my life, I return to the Magistrates 
and Council of Berlin my most sincere thanks. In such 
a calamity the mind lifts itself above earthly things, and 
seeks for consolation in sources which are imperishable. 
If anything earthly could diminish the weight of this 
heavy affliction, it would be the thought that the irre- 
parable loss is acknowledged as such in every circle ; and 
that the rare and lofty attributes of my dear father, so 
prematurely removed, will be embalmed in an enduring 
memory." 

As might naturally be expected, the Crown Princess at 
once -determined on a lengthened visit of condolence to the 
bereaved Queen and Royal family of England. Her Royal 
Highness arrived at Osborne on Friday, February 15th, 
at half-past eleven o'clock. The Royal yacht Victoria 
and Albert conveyed the Princess, who disembarked at 
Osborne Pier, where Princess Alice and Prince Arthur 
were waiting to accompany her to the Palace. 

The suite in attendance on the Crown Princess were 
Countess Schulenberg, Grande Maitresse; Countess 
Blucher, Count Fiirstenstein, Baron Ernest Stockmar, 
and Dr. Wesrner. 



VICTOBIA ADELAIDE MAKY LOUISA. 471 

On the 6th March, 1862, the Queen, accompanied by 
her family and the Crown Princess, who was still on a 
visit to her, removed from Osborne to Windsor. 

On Thursday, March 27, 1862, her Royal Highness 
the Crown Princess of Prussia, accompanied by Princess 
Alice and Prince Alfred, paid a long visit of inspection to 
the Exhibition Buildings at South Kensington. So 
private a visit was this, in the strictest sense of the term, 
that no one but the Royal Commissioners were aware of 
their coming. 

On Monday, March 31, the Crown Princess bade fare- 
well to her beloved motherland quitted Windsor Castle 
on her return to her foreign home. Prince Alfred accom- 
panied her Royal Highness by special train on the North 
Kent Railway, as far as Gravesend, whence, having em- 
barked with her suite in the Victoria and Albert Royal 
yacht, the Crown Princess sailed immediately for Antwerp. 

On the morning of the opening of the Great Exhibition 
in London, 1st May, 1862, while the members were 
forming their ranks for the procession, Earl Granville read. 
to those around him the following telegram which had 
been placed in his hands as he left his residence : — 

"Berlin Palace, May 1, 9 a.m. 

u From Victoria, Crown Princess of Prussia, to the 

Far I Granville. 

" My best wishes for the success of to-day's ceremony, 
and of the whole undertaking. 

"Pkincess Royal." 

The second son and third child of their Royal High- 
nesses the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia was 
born August 14th, 1862. Prior to the birth of the Royal 



472 THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

babe, special prayers were offered up in all the churches 
through Prussia, by the King's order, for the safety of the 
Princess in her approaching accouchement. 

The ceremony of baptism took place on the 13th of 
September, at the Palace of Potsdam, his Majesty's 
Chaplain, the Rev. M. Heym, officiating, assisted by others 
of the metropolitan clergy. There were twenty-three 
sponsors for the infant, either in person, or by proxy. 
The names given to him were Albert William Henry. 
There were present at this christening the King and 
Queen, the Queen Dowager, Prince and Princess Charles, 
Princess Alexandrine, and Prince Frederick Charles. 

A grand dinner was given by the Crown Prince on this 
occasion, and he received from the Municipal Authorities of 
Berlin an Address of Congratulation on the happy event. 

On September 27th, 1862, the Crown Prince and Crown 
Princess, with their children, left the Prussian capital for 
Gotha on a visit to the Queen of England, who had been 
staying at Kheinhardsbrunn, with the other members of 
her family and suite, for whom the Victoria Hotel, 
Coburg, was engaged. This must have been a great 
comfort to her Majesty under her twofold heavy bereave- 
ment, to be surrounded by the Prince of Wales, the 
Crown Prince of Prussia, Prince and Princess Louis of 
Hesse, and the junior members of her own family. She also 
received frequent visits from the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, 
then staying in the neighbourhood. 

A correspondent on this subject writes, " Queen Victoria 
has visibly improved during her short stay among the 
Thuringian mountains, and may now be described as 
almost well. Her Majesty drives out daily, generally 
after breakfast, and even rainy days have not prevented 
out-door exercise. The Princes and Princesses often take 
long walking excursions in the neighbourhood, and Prince 



YICTOHIA ADELAIDE MAET LOUISA. 473 

Arthur, a few days since, who had left the high road to 
climb the Neselberg with his tutor, had the misfortune to 
sprain his ankle so badly that he was obliged to be carried 
down the mountain by his guide. 

The Crown Princess of Prussia came to England on the 
occasion of the marriage of the Prince of Wales, to whom 
from earliest infancy she had been most tenderly attached, 
and the myrtle intermixed in the wedding bouquet of the 
Princess Alexandra was reared from that used in the 
bridal bouquet of the Princess Eoyal. 

In the marriage procession the Crown Prince and 
Princess of Prussia rode in the eleventh carriage. 

In November, 1863, the Crown Princess laid the stone 
of a new church, dedicated to All Saints, about to be 
erected at Windsor. She was accompanied by the Crown 
Prince, Princess Louise, and Prince Arthur ; there was 
also a numerous suite in attendance. 

In 1864, on the 15th of September, another son was 
born to the royal pair. This child was baptized by the 
names of Francis Frederick Sigismund. 

A daughter was added to the little group on the 12th 
of April, 1866, named Frederica Amelia Wilhelmina 
Victoria. The christening took place at Potsdam May 24th, 
our Queen's birthday : and the King of Prussia held the 
child during the ceremony. 

The first of these two children was destined to be cut 
off in infancy at the age of a year and nine months. The 
news of the death of the little Prince Sigismund deeply 
affected Her Majesty and the Eoyal Family. A State 
concert, announced to take place at Buckingham Palace, 
was postponed ; and the Prince and Princess of Wales 
were prevented attending a ball at the Turkish Embassy, 
given in honour of the Sultan's accession to the throne. 

A bitter fate had not permitted his Eoyal Highness the 



474 THE EOYAL PKINCESSES. 

Crown Prince to be present at the deathbed of his beloved 
child, and the sacred duties he owed to his Fatherland 
also prevented his appearing at his son's funeral, which 
took place June 25th, at Potsdam. 

The Princess's goodness of heart and practical talents 
were brought fully into view in the year 1866, when she 
was the means of establishing the " National Victoria 
Society for the Benefit of the Sick and Wounded in 
the]* War" against Austria, recently waged in Bohemia, 
and got up a Bazaar in connexion with it, which was held 
in her own elegantly simple and homelike palace. The 
public generally were admitted on payment of a small 
sum, increased at the option of the donor: nor were the 
good Prussians slow to avail themselves of the oppor- 
tunity of coming into personal contact with their well- 
beloved King, who was a large purchaser on the occasion, 
and other members of the Eoyal family, who, like the 
Crown Princess and Prince, made themselves actively use- 
ful. A visitor felt himself gently tapped upon the shoul- 
der, and heard a cheery voice, exclaiming — " Just let us 
pass, will you ?" Turning round, he found himself face 
to face with Prince Frederick William, who was assisting 
Jiis wife, as he loved to call our Princess Eoyal, to make 
her way through the throng to her stall. This she had 
provided with socks, gloves, and little garments of various 
kinds likely to attract mothers, and a very successful 
dealer she proved. Many pleasing episodes connected 
with the unwonted mingling of ranks at this Bazaar were 
remarked, and its success financially was very considerable, 
not less than 6000Z. sterling being realized, defined 
amiability was the term most commonly made use of to 
describe the Princess and her demeanour. The " Arabian 
Nights" were brought vividly to mind when the Turkish 
Ambassador purchased a bouquet of violets for a thousand 



VICTORIA ADELAIDE HART LOUISA. 475 

thalers, and begged permission of the Princess to present 
it to her, in token of respect, from his lord and master the 
Sultan. 

The accouchement of the Crown Princess again took 
place at the Eoyal Palace in Berlin, February 10th, 
1868. Her Eoyal Highness was safely delivered of a 
son at three o'clock in the morning of that day. Her 
health continued to progress favourably, and the state 
of the infant Prince was also satisfactory. He was after- 
wards christened by the names of Joachim Frederick 
Ernest Waldemar. The baptismal ceremonial took place 
at Berlin, March 22nd, 1868. He is the sixth child of 
the Eoyal pair. 

A high authority thus writes of the family life of the 
Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia, " It recalls to 
mind, in its purity and affection, no less than the fact of 
its numerous offspring, the domestic circle which had 
been not long before unexpectedly and terribly broken by 
death at Windsor Castle." Princess Victoria possesses 
all the domestic virtues of her mother, the Queen of 
England : , her ,love of order, her economy, her watchful 
eye over every department of the household, and above 
all, her unlimited love for her children. The first 
visit in the morning is to the nursery, and she spends 
as large a portion of the day as her station will 
permit in the company of her little ones, following 
every arrangement for their bodily and mental well- 
being with the eye of love. The children make their 
appearance every night at dessert, no matter what guests 
may be present. The Crown Princess is a housekeeper 
whom many far below her in station would do well to 
take as a pattern. She understands and takes an interest 
in everything. The symbols of the womanly virtues — 
Bible, harp, and spinning-wheel, may serve as hers. A 



470 THE KOYAL PRINCESSES. 

spinning-wheel, adorned with a red ribbon, stands in her 
drawing-room, not for show, but for practical use,, and is 
brought into operation every day by the Princess's own 
hand. Nor do her domestic duties prevent her finding 
time for artistic pursuits, and taking an interest in every- 
thing connected with art. She excels particularly in 
water-colour painting. Vanity and love of dress are 
foreign to her nature, but when it is necessaiy for her to 
appear as the Crown Princess of Prussia, she invents her 
own toilette bj the aid of her artistic genius. 

On Tuesday, June 14th, 1870, the Crown Princess of 
Prussia was again safely delivered of a daughter at the 
New Palace in Potsdam, the news of which happy event 
was immediately transmitted to the Queen of England at 
Balmoral, and to the several members of the English and 
Prussian Royal families. 

The names given to the Eoyal infant were Sophia 
Dorothea Ulrica. 

Little needs be said in these pages of this noble and 
high-spirited Princess, in whose praise volumes might be 
recorded. The brilliant military talents of the Crown 
Prince Frederick, combined with the German valour, 
have won for himself and his consort the new title 
of Imperial. It is scarcely necessary to say that 
any reference to the important military services rendered 
to his country in Denmark, Bohemia, and latterly in 
France, would be out of place in this work. The Princess 
Royal of England has hereafter to be addressed by the 
title of Crown Princess Imperial of the German Empire 
and of Prussia. But a heart like hers soars above worldly 
honours, and can stoop to the alleviation of sufferings 
among the most humble of the afflicted. 



477 



PRINCESS ALICE MAUD MARY, 

SECOND DAUGHTER OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA, 
AND PRINCESS LOUIS OF HESSE-DARMSTADT. 

Jot and grief tread fast on each other's heels, and are 
often found as closely allied as are the deep shades of 
night which blend into a soft and resplendent morning. 
Joy and grief were deeply mingled in the birth, as also 
subsequently at the bridal, of this fair flower of our Court. 
It may be said that a sort of foreshadowing of the land- 
scape of the future presented itself on the occasion of the 
birth of the Princess Alice. There was mourning just 
then within the Palace, for the remains of the good, frank, 
and accomplished Duke of Sussex were awaiting their 
removal to his last earthly home. Sincere was the 
sorrow of his countrymen, for they well knew the worth 
of the deceased Prince. The following particulars of the 
birth of the Princess were made public officially at the 
time. 

"This morning, April 25th, 1818, the Queen was safely 
delivered of a Princess. The occurrence had been delayed 
beyond the expected time, Mrs. Lilly, the nurse, having 
been in attendance on her Majesty from the 1st of April." 

Dr. Locock had not, as he had done at the birth 
of the Prince of Wales, slept in readiness for several 
previous nights in the Palace, but had returned to his 
home. Messengers were sent for him, Dr. Ferguson, 
and Sir James Clark at half-past one o'clock in the morn- 
ing, and on their arrival also for the Duchess of Kent, Sir 
i i 



478 THE KOYAL PIUNC ESSES. 

Robert Peel, and other great officers of State. The child 
was born at five minutes past four, at which time Prince 
Albert was present, but every other person who had been 
summoned, the Earl of Liverpool excepted, was too late 
for the event, and awaited only the issue of the first 
bulletin announcing that the Queen and her infant were 
extremely well, before they took their departure. 

On the event being communicated to the usual autho- 
rities the customary salutes were fired, and other demon- 
strations of joy celebrated. At Whitehall, the same after- 
noon, a Privy Council was held, at which were present 
Prince Albert, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord 
President, the Lord Chancellor, and other illustrious per- 
sonages. A form of prayer and thanksgiving for the safe 
delivery of the Queen was ordered to be read in churches 
and chapels throughout the kingdom on the following 
Sunday. 

The ceremonj r of the baptism of the infant Princess 
took place on June 2nd, 1843, in the Chapel Royal, 
Buckingham Palace, in the presence of her Majesty and 
Prince Albert, the Queen Dowager, and the Duchess of 
Kent, and most of the principal members of the Royal 
family, Foreign Ministers, &c. 

As soon as the visitors had taken their seats, the pro- 
cession of the Sponsors was first formed. These comprised 
H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge (as proxy for the King 
of Hanover), H.R.H. the Hereditary Grand Duke of 
Mecklenburg-Strelitz (as proxy for the Hereditary Prince 
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha), H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent 
(proxy for her Serene Highness Princess of Hohenlohe 
Langenburg), and H.R.H. the Princess Sophia Matilda. 

We must duly chronicle here the dress of the infant 
Princess. This consisted of a robe of Honiton lace over 



ALICE jMATJD mart. 479 

white silk, made at Spitalfields, with cap to correspond, 
the whole being of British manufacture. 

The Service was performed by the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, assisted by the Archbishop of York, the Bishop 
of London, and the Bishop of Norwich ; the Sponsors 
standing near the font, opposite to her Majesty and 
Prince Albert, made the customary responses. When 
the Archbishop came to that part of the Service for 
naming the Princess, two amongst them — viz., the 
Princess Sophia Matilda and the Hereditary Grand Duke 
of Mecklenburg-Strelitz — named her Royal Highness 
" Alice Maud Mary." After the conclusion of the Bap- 
tismal Service, the Princess Alice was reconducted to the 
Royal nursery from the Chapel. 

The Hallelujah Chorus from Beethoven's " Mount of 
Olives" having been performed with admirable effect, her 
Majesty and Prince Albert, the Queen Dowager, the 
Royal Sponsors, and the other illustrious visitors, left the 
Chapel and returned to the Queen's apartments. 

The events of the Princess Alice's life during the earlier 
years of her childhood present but few incidents to call 
for remark. We may mention, however, that it was 
rumoured on one occasion that two of the Royal children — 
Princess Alice being one of them — actuated by a spirit 
of fun, not uncommon we believe with young folks of 
even exalted birth, had strayed into an apartment in which 
a housemaid was busily at work in polishing a stove-grate. 
They sportively demanded that her brushes should be given 
up to them, pretending that they wished to help her ; and 
on getting possession of these domestic implements, 
proceeded sans ceremonie to apply them to the face of 
the maid, blackening her dress meanwhile. She, hear- 
ing the approaching footstep of Prince Albert, was 
i i 2 



480 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

ready to sink from confusion. His Eoyal Highness 
entered the room, and at sight of the escapade was 
as much astonished himself; and on ascertaining from 
the reluctant servant the true version of the story, forth- 
with represented the matter to the Queen, who very soon 
after led the young culprits to the servants' quarters, and 
having selected the maid who had been operated upon, she 
at once ordered her daughters to ask pardon for the liberty 
they had taken. Nor was this all, for the Queen insisted 
that her daughters should pay, out of their pocket money, 
the cost of a new dress, bonnet, shawl, and gloves, in order 
fully to repair the mischief they had done. It is said 
that the young Princesses did not in the least mind part- 
ing with their money : it was asking the poor girl's pardon., 
they did not relish. 

On August 30th, 1852, her Majesty with Prince Albert 
and five of their elder children, left Osborne for an autum- 
nal visit to Balmoral. From G-osport the Eoyal party 
traversed the line to Basingstoke, thence they passed on to 
Swindon, then visiting Gloucester, Birmingham, and 
Derby, where they stayed that night. Passing through 
York and Berwick, they reached Edinburgh at five in 
the afternoon. Their residence for the night was the 
Palace of Holyrood, and Prince Albert and the children 
drove round the romantic town in the evening. Proceed- 
ing on their route to Cupar Angus, the Royal party 
travelled by carriages till they arrived at their Highland 
home. 

News arrived, on September 16th, while on an excur- 
sion, of the death of one of her Majesty's most illustrious 
subjects : this was no other than the great Duke of Wel- 
lington. Her Majesty lost no time in offering her condo- 
lence, through the Earl of Derby, to the Duke's family: 



ALICE MATJD MARY. 481 

all pleasure arrangements were countermanded, and the 
household went into mourning.* 

On October 12th the Court removed from Balmoral, 
and another interesting excursion varied the homeward 
route. From Chester the Royal family proceeded ta 
Bangor, and on the following morning inspected the 
famous Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits, the 
Queen walking through the tube, the Prince over the top 
of it, and then took a minute survey of the wonderful 
structure. Windsor Castle was reached on "Wednesday 
evening. 

In the next year, 1853, we find an extract deserving of 
a place here, which records in the Queen's own words 
the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of the new 
Royal residence at Balmoral. 

" tteptemher 28th, 1853. — A fine morning early ; but 
when we walked out at half-past ten o'clock, it began 
raining, and soon poured down without ceasing. Most 
fortunately it cleared up before two, and the sun shone 
brightly for the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone 
of the new house. Mamma and all her party arrived from 
Abergeldie a little before three. I annex the programme 
of the ceremony, which was strictly adhered to, and was 
really very interesting." 

The programme is then given. It provides that the 
stone being prepared, and suspended over that upon 
which it was to rest (in which was a cavity for the 
bottle containing the parchment and coins), the workmen 



* It was from the middle balcony of Buckingham Palace that 
Majesty and the Royal children beheld the funeral pageant of the Duke 
of Wellington, the flag above the building being half lowered on the 
sad occasion. 



482 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

were to stand in a semicircle at a little distance from 
the stone, and the women and home servants in an inner 
semicircle. 

Her Majesty the Queen, and his Eoyal Highness the 
Prince Consort, accompanied by the Eoyal children, and 
her Eoyal Highness the Duchess of Kent, and attended 
by her Majesty's guests and suite, were, after proceed- 
ing from the house, to stand on the south side of 
the stone, the suite remaining behind and on each side of 
the Eoyal party. 

The Eev. Mr. Anderson then prayed for blessing on 
the work. Her Majesty next affixed her signature to 
the parchment, recording the day of the ceremony ; this 
was followed by that of the Prince and the Eoyal children, 
the Duchess of Kent, and others, whom her Majesty had 
commanded to be present ; and the parchment was placed 
in the bottle. One of each of the current coins of the 
present reign was also placed within the bottle ; and this 
having been sealed up, was placed in the cavity. The 
trowel was delivered to her Majesty by Mr. Smith, of 
Aberdeen, the architect; and the mortar having been 
spread, the stone was lowered. 

The level and square were then applied, and their cor- 
rectness having been ascertained, the mallet was delivered 
to the Queen by Mr. Stuart, the clerk of the works, when 
her Majesty struck the stone, and declared it to be laid. 
The cornucopia was placed upon the stone, and the oil 
and wine poured out by the hands of her Majesty. The 
pipes having played, her Majesty with the Eoyal family 
retired. The workmen were regaled with a good dinner, 
and amused themselves on the green with Highland games 
till seven o'clock ; after which a dance took place in the 
ball-room. 



ALICE MAUD MART. 483 

A visit was made in April, 1855, by the Emperor and 
Empress of the French to England ; and there were many 
marks of honour paid by the Court and people to their 
distinguished visitors. Among the rest was a grand 
review of the Household troops, held in Windsor Great 
Park. On Tuesday the Emperor and Prince Albert, 
with a numerous suite, having left the Castle at four 
o'clock, the Empress and her Majesty, the members of 
the .Royal family, and ladies in attendance, proceeded to 
the ground in several open barouches. The Royal car- 
riages were occupied by the Queen and the Empress, the 
Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the young Princes 
Alfred, Arthur, and Princesses Alice and Helena, with 
other ladies and gentlemen of the Household. They 
passed under a triumphal arch amidst enthusiastic cheer- 
ing, through the streets and Long Walk, to the ground 
chosen for this military pageant. At the close of the 
Review, the Emperor and Prince passed along the lines, 
followed by the Royal carriages, the colours being drooped, 
and the men saluting in the usual style. 

Princess Alice accompanied the Princess Royal and the 
Prince of Wales on one of the visits made to the Continent 
by their Royal parents. The Queen and Prince Consort 
with their children departed from Osborne to visit the 
King of the Belgians, their yachts being escorted by a 
squadron of steam frigates. The very rough weather 
compelled the squadron to pass the night at anchor in 
the Downs. On the following morning, in a strong gale 
the fleet ran across to the Scheldt, but the yacht did 
not reach Antwerp till half-past six in the evening. King 
Leopold had ceased to expect his niece, owing to the 
roughness of the weather, and had to be summoned by 
telegraph ; he dined on board the yacht, but the Royal 



iS4i THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

party did not land till the following morning. Quitting 
Antwerp in the afternoon they drove to Brussels, view- 
ing the streets and buildings of that city, by whose 
citizens they were cordially received. On Friday her 
Majesty went to Brussels and held a reception in the 
Palace of the members of the Diplomatic Corps and the 
chief officials. On Saturday the Royal family turned 
homewards, and, while at Antwerp, they proceeded to 
visit the Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, and the 
Museum with its matchless collection of Rubens' s finest 
works, and thence to the famous cathedral. In the 
afternoon they re-embarked in the yachts and steamed 
down the river, anchoring for the night off Terneuse. 

On the following morning the squadron again got 
under weigh ; but it now blew so fierce a gale and the 
weather was so thick, that they proceeded no further than 
Flushing, where the men-of-war came to an anchor, while 
the }^achts returned to the smoother water of Terneuse. 
On Monday the squadron again set sail, and succeeded in 
getting over to the English coast ; but so thick a fog 
covered the sea, that it was deemed prudent to anchor for 
the night in Dungeness Roads ; and it was not until 
Tuesday at mid-day that her Majesty arrived at Osborne 
House, having suffered a voyage as disagreeable as bad 
weather could make it. 

The Glasgow Waterworks — an extraordinary undertak- 
ing, by which the superfluous waters of Loch Katrine 
are conducted through a mountain and across morasses, 
to be conveyed to the dwellings in that town — were opened 
by her Majesty with great ceremony in October, 1859. 
The Queen, Prince Consort, and two Princesses, leaving 
Edinburgh, made a tour amid the beautiful scenery of the 
Trossachs, and crossed the foot of Loch Katrine to the 



ALICE MAUD MARY. 485 

spot where the first outlet is constructed — about eight 
miles from the lowest point. There a large concourse of 
people waited to witness the ceremony. After an address 
presented by the Commissioners of the Waterworks, to 
which a suitable reply was made by her Majesty, the 
Queen put in motion the apparatus by which the waters 
of the lake were admitted into the tunnel ; and notice 
having been given by electric telegraph of the event, 
various salutes were fired from the batteries of Edinburgh 
and Stirling castles, and all the bells in Glasgow were set 
ringing in honour of the event. 

We here subjoin an extract from the " Queen's 
Journal :" — 

" September 15th, 1859. — I ascended Loch-na-Grarr with 
Alice, Helena, Bertie, Lady Churchill, Colonel Bruce, and 
our usual attendants, and returned after six o'clock." 

In the ascent of Ben Muich Dhul, which is 4297 feet 
high, one of the highest mountains in Scotland, October 
7th, the Queen again names Princess Alice : — 

" At ten minutes to nine we started in the sociable with 
Bertie and Alice, and our usual attendants." 

The Royal party made the ascent on ponies, one carry- 
ing the luncheon baskets. "After all the cloaks had been 
placed on the ponies we mounted and began our journey — 
I was on Victoria, Alice on Dobbins. I and Alice rode 
part of the way, walking wherever it was steep." 

We should add, that Prince Louis of Hesse is several 
times named in the " Queen's Journal" as accompanying 
the Royal party in their excursions at Balmoral, about the 
time that he became publicly known as a suitor for the 
hand of Princess Alice. 

At a Council held April 30th, 1861, at Buckingham 



4S6 THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

Palace, " Her Majesty was pleased to declare her consent 
to a contract of matrimony between her Eoyal Highness 
the Princess Alice Maud Mary and his Grand Ducal 
Highness Prince Frederick William Louis of Hesse, which 
consent her Majesty has also caused to be signified under 
the Great Seal." 

On Friday, the 3rd of May, the betrothal of the 
Princess Alice to Prince Louis of Hesse was communi- 
cated by the Queen to the House of Lords. 

In the marriage treaty the future husband of the 
Princess Alice is styled his Grand Ducal Highness the 
Prince Frederick Louis Charles of Hesse, son of his Grand 
Ducal Highness the Prince Charles William Louis of 
Hesse, and nephew of his B,oyal Highness the Grand 
Duke of Hesse. 

In July, 1861, the Prince Louis of Hesse returned to 
the Continent, having previously taken leave of the 
Queen at Buckingham Palace. 

Some notice ought here to be taken of a visit made by 
the Queen to Ireland in September, 1861, accompanied by 
the Princesses Alice and Helena, on a " pouring wet" day. 
Her Majesty having left Dublin, visited and inspected the 
troops at Curragh, drawn up on the semicircular ridge 
of hills stretching from the Prince's quarters to the camp 
proper. On this gentle slope were mustered a little army 
of 10,000 men in masses of cavalry and horse artillery, 
with columns of infantry in the centre. The Queen, 
Princesses, with Lord Carlisle, were in an open carriage; 
the Prince Consort, dressed in Field-Marshal's uniform, 
and Prince Alfred as a midshipman, followed on horse- 
back. Soon after the Queen arrived the storm breaking 
forth, made it necessary that the carriage should be closed. 
The Prince Consort and Prince Alfred remained, how- 



ALICE MAUD MAKY. 487 

ever, on horseback, and were saturated with rain. Equally 
exposed was the Prince of Wales at the head of his Grena- 
diers. The evolutions of the day ended, the Queen drove 
off to the Prince of Wales Stand Station, followed on her 
departure by train with a loyal outburst of cheers. 

It was during this visit to Ireland that the Royal party 
spent a day at the Lakes of Killarney. They embarked at 
twelve o'clock at Ross Castle, amid the cheers of thousands 
and followed by an immense flotilla of boats. The mist, 
which at first rested on the mountain tops, having gra- 
dually cleared off, the remainder of the day continued 
remarkably fine. In the State barge were the Queen, 
the Prince Consort, Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, 
Princess Alice, Princess Helena, Lady Churchill, Earl 
Granville, and Lord and Lady Castlerosse. After rowing 
round Innisfallen, and coasting under the Toomies and 
Glans mountains, the Royal party landed at one o'clock 
at Glana. After a short excursion through the demesne, 
they sat down to a magnificent dejeuner at Glana Cottage. 
The bay was crowded with boats, and the cheers again 
rang forth and awoke the echoes. After re-embarking, 
the procession of boats, led by the Royal barge, went 
through the middle of the Tore Lake, threaded the Long 
Range, passed the Eagle's Nest into the Upper Lake, and 
reached Derry Cunnihy at four o'clock. The Queen and 
party landed, and partook of tea. On the return the 
Royal party landed at Ross Island, amid renewed acclama- 
tions. At Killarney House they entered the carriages 
in waiting, and, escorted by the 1st Royals, started at 
6-30 to Muckross Abbey, the seat of Mr. Herbert. The 
Queen and Prince Consort appeared throughout the day 
to be greatly delighted, and repeatedly expressed their 
unqualified admiration of the scenery. On Wednesday 



4S3 THE EOYAL PHINCESSES. 

morning the Royal party drove round other portions of 
Muckross demesne. They visited Tore Lake, to witness 
the stag hunt intended by Colonel Herbert to take place. 
The Queen remained on the lake till six o'clock, and the 
State barge went repeatedly through the flotilla of boats. 

Her Majesty arrived at Balmoral on the following 
Saturday. 

It now becomes our sad duty to give an account of an 
event which plunged not only the Koyal family, but the 
whole nation, into the deepest affliction — the death of the 
Prince Consort. Whatever had been the cause, the 
lamented Prince was attacked with a serious illness, which 
betokened incipient gastric fever ; yet his condition was 
not at first such as to create alarm, nor was this felt till 
the Wednesday preceding his death, though the Prince 
himself had unfavourable presentiments. On Thursday 
no change had taken place for the better ; on Friday 
even the Queen had no suspicion of danger, and took her 
usual drive. On her return a change for the worse had 
taken place, and the fatal result painfully presented itself 
to the minds of all around. Throughout the day the 
patient's strength declined, and in his delirium he called 
for the Prince of Wales. The presence of mind of the 
Princess Alice had already caused a telegraphic despatch 
to be sent off to her brother. At half-past eight on 
Friday night the Queen and her family were admitted to 
take a last farewell ; the only absent ones were the Crown 
Princess of Prussia, then ill, and Princes Alfred and 
Leopold. The Queen and Princess Alice sat up with the 
patient the whole of Friday night, and were joined in 
their mournful watch by the Prince of Wales. From this 
affecting scene Princess Alice was carried away in a state 
of hysterical agitation ; and when the fatal news was made 



ALICE MAUD MART. 489 

known to her, she was seized with a rigidity of the nerves 
and temporary insensibility, to the great alarm of all 
around her. Nature could no more ! It was this young 
girl who had from the first moment of this bitter trial 
displayed so much power of mind and energy beyond her 
years ; whose hand had soothed the sufferer ; whose tears 
had been carefully withheld ; but now that all hope was 
lost, gave way, and in the silence of her own chamber 
found a vent for the sorrow which had been smothered 
till then for the sake of others. 

In an early stage of the disorder, and especially on 
the previous Sunday, when the Prince was ill and weak, 
Princess Alice had spent the afternoon alone with her 
father, the others being at church. " He begged to have 
his sofa drawn to the window that he might see the sky 
and the clouds sailing past. He then asked her to play 
to him, and she went through several of his favourite 
hymns and chorales. After she had played some time, 
she looked round and saw him lying back, his hands 
folded as if in prayer, and his eyes shut. He lay so long 
without moving that she thought he had fallen asleep. 
Presently he looked up and smiled. She said, ' Were 
you asleep, dear papa ?' ' Oh no,' he answered ; ' only I 
have such sweet thoughts !' " 

He loved to hear hymns and prayers. He could not 
speak to the Queen of himself, for she could not bear 
to listen, and shut her eyes to the danger. His daughter 
saw that she must act differently, and never let her voice 
falter or shed a single tear in his presence. She sat by 
him, listened to all he said, repeated hymns, and then, 
when she could bear it no longer, would walk calmly to 
the door and rush away to her room, returning with the 
same calm and pale face, without any appearance of the 



490 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

agitation she had gone through : in fact, self-control was 
never more highly exemplified than on this trying occa- 
sion by the conduct of the Princess Alice. 

The dreaded event soon occurred, and the Queen was 
left a widow. 

After the funeral obsequies of the lamented Prince had 
been completed, but one act of love remained to be 
performed. This was the placing on the coffin those 
dear memorials of love and regret from the bereaved 
Queen and her children, three wreaths and a bouquet, the 
day before brought from Osborne to Windsor. The 
former were simple chaplets of moss and violets, wreathed 
by the three elder Princesses : the bouquet of violets, 
with a white camellia in the centre, was sent by the 
widowed Queen. Between the heraldic insignia were 
placed these last tributes from his widow and orphan 
daughters. With this last act of grateful care the aper- 
ture to the Royal vault was closed, and thus Prince 
Albert, who had lived in honour and died in peace, was 
consigned to his tomb with every mark of affection. 

The Queen, who had been in strict confinement from 
the time of her loss, returned to Windsor on the 5th 
March, 1862, with the Crown Princess of Prussia, 
Princess Alice, and the rest of the Royal family. 

On March 15th, 1862, her Majesty laid the first stone of 
a Mausoleum to be erected at Frogmore for the reception 
of the late Prince Consort and herself. It was not till 
the 18th December in the same year that this structure 
was ready to receive the last remains of the object of her 
deepest affection. The coffin was removed on a hearse 
from St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The ceremonial 
observed was quite private, and was witnessed by the 
Prince of Wales and his brothers and Prince Louis of 



ALICE MAUD MAET. 491 

Hesse, who went in a mourning coach. There were also 
present the Lord Chamberlain, the Dean of Windsor, with 
other officials. After a brief and appropriate ceremony, the 
coffin was placed in the sarcophagus, when the Princes 
placed upon it the wreaths of flowers woven by their sisters* 
own hands to repose on the breast of their lamented 
father. 

Her Majesty, who had been staying for some time at 
Balmoral, returned to Windsor Castle in the beginning of 
June, 1862, and proceeded thence to Osborne, where the 
marriage of the Princess Alice with the Prince of Hesse 
was to take place. The Queen's birthday had not been 
publicly celebrated this year. 

Notwithstanding her grief, her Majesty's interest in the 
progress of the International Exhibition never flagged. 
With considerate kindness she purchased 1000 half-crown 
tickets for the Exhibition, to be given in her name to 
deserving pupils of the various schools of design, as well 
as 3000 shilling tickets for distribution among the work- 
men who helped to build the Industrial Palace. 

The Royal Princes and Princesses had been during their 
sojourn at Windsor almost every day at the great building. 

The marriage of the Princess Alice to the Prince Frede- 
rick William Louis of Hesse took place privately at 
Osborne on July 1st, 1862, the Archbishop of York per- 
forming the ceremony. Her Majesty the Queen was still 
suffering deeply from the effects of her recent severe 
affliction, and in the most private manner attended the 
union of her beloved daughter in a robe of the deepest 
mourning, the sad index of her mental sorrow. She was 
accompanied by her four sons, the Prince of Wales, Prince 
Alfred, and the Princes Arthur and Leopold. 

The Bridegroom, who, as we have already said, is the 



492 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

eldest son of the Grand Duke of Hesse, was supported 
by his brother, Prince Henry of Hesse. 

The lovely and amiable Princess Alice was supported 
at this interesting moment by her uncle, the reign- 
ing Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, by whom she was 
given away ; and the youthful bridesmaids were her 
own three sisters, Princesses Helena, Louise, and Bea- 
trice, and the Princess Anna of Hesse, the Bridegroom's 
sister. 

Private as the wedding was wished to be, there were 
many Royal and noble witnesses who, with their several 
suites, assembled to witness so truly interesting a spec- 
tacle ; some few had indeed been honoured with invitations 
on the occasion. 

The Royal Bride's dress on this occasion was of a design 
which had been furnished by her deceased father, who had 
taken a lively interest in the ceremony, which had been 
fixed to take place on a day shortly subsequent to his 
lamented decease. His Royal Highness had also selected, 
in consultation with her Majesty, a magnificent series of 
wedding presents, distinguished for their intrinsic and 
artistic value. 

The wedding dress must be particularly mentioned 
here: this consisted of a deep flounce of Honiton 
guipure lace, composed of rose, myrtle, and orange blos- 
soms, with a veil to correspond. 

After the ceremony the newly married pair left Osborne 
for St. Clare, near Ryde, and afterwards proceeded to 
Hesse-Darmstadt. 

We have now to regard the incidents connected with 
Princess Alice, in her new relation of a wife, residing at 
her home in Darmstadt, and visiting from time to time 
various places on the Continent. Whenever the Queen 



ALICE MAUD MARY. 493 

visited Germany we are pretty sure to find her daughter's 
movements were in the same direction. 

On the 3rd of September, 1862, the Grand Duke of 
Hesse-Darmstadt inspected a body of troops at Worms. 
The Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse arrived in the 
town early in the morning from Auerbach : and whilst 
his Eoyal Highness joined the Grand Duke, the Princess 
paid a visit to the Cathedral. On leaving it, she went to 
the banks of the Rhine, where a boat was in waiting 
to receive her. After enjoying a short trip on the river, 
she rejoined her husband, and returned to Auerbach. 
On September 6th, Prince Louis and his young wife 
arrived from the latter place at Lindenfels about noon, 
where they visited the ruins of the castle, and enjoyed for 
some time the delightful panorama of scenery around 
them. 

On Sunday, April 8th, 1863, at a quarter before 5 a.m., 
Princess Louis of Hesse — her Majesty having been with 
her Royal Highness throughout the previous night — was 
gladdened by the birth of a Princess. 

In the room with the Princess at the birth of the child 
were besides the Queen, his Royal Highness Prince 
Louis of Hesse, Sir Charles Locock, Dr. Farre, and the 
nurses. In an adjoining apartment were Sir J. Clark, 
Viscount Sydney, Lord Chamberlain, Sir George Gre\ r , 
and Baron de Ricon, Head of the Household of Prince 
Charles of Hesse. Intelligence of the happy event was 
immediately transmitted by telegraph to the Grand Duke 
and Court of Hesse-Darmstadt, and to the various mem- 
bers of the Royal family ; the latest bulletin stating that 
the Princess and her child were going on perfectly well. 

The christening of the infant Princess, daughter of 
Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse, took place on Mon- 



494 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

day, April 28th, 1863, in presence of her Majesty, at 
Windsor Castle, in the Green Drawing Room, according to 
the rites of the Lutheran Church. 

The baptism was performed in German by the Rev. 
Mr. Bender, Court Chaplain to the Grand Ducal family 
of Hesse, who travelled from Darmstadt specially to offi- 
ciate on this occasion. The sponsors present were her 
Majesty the Queen, his Grand Ducal Highness Prince 
Alexander of Hesse (representing the Grand Duke of 
Hesse), H.R.H. Princess Mary of Cambridge, H.R.H. the 
Prince of Wales, and his Grand Ducal Highness Prince 
Henry of Hesse. The infant was named by the Queen, 
who held the child at the font, Yictoria Alberta Elizabeth 
Matilda Mary. 

The font of silver gilt used upon this occasion was 
originally made for the christening of the Princess Royal, 
and was filled with water brought from the River Jordan 
by the Prince of Wales. 

Various Royal and illustrious persons were present at 
the ceremony. 

The chief officers of State, and the ladies and gentlemen 
of the household, and also the Royal family, were then 
conducted to the White Room, where a Register of the 
Baptism w T as signed; and the general company to the 
Dining Room, where a dejeuner was served. 

On the occasion of the Prince of Wales's marriage, 10th 
March, 1863, the ninth carriage in the procession conveyed 
Princess Helena, Princess Louise, and Lady Caroline Bar- 
rington, the Bearer of the Train of Princess Helena. 
In the tenth carriage the Princess Beatrice, Prince 
Louis of Hesse, and the Princess Louis of Hesse. And in 
the eleventh carriage the Crown Prince and Princess of 
Prussia. 



ALICE MAUD MABY. 405 

Among the presents from the Prince and Princesses 
jointly to the Poyal pair, was " a noble brooch composed 
of brilliants and sapphires." The Prince and Princess 
Louis of Hesse gave a bracelet of turquoise and brilliants. 

The Queen and Prince Leopold, with the Princesses 
Helena, Louise, Beatrice, and suite, embarked at Woolwich 
for Germany at a quarter past six o'clock, on the 8th of 
August, 1863. 

On the 11th, the Queen arrived at Coburg at 8 a.m., 
and immediately proceeded to Eosenau. 

It was on August 6th, just before this visit to 
Germany, that the formal recognition of Prince Alfred 
of England as heir to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg took 
place at the capital of that State, on the twenty-first 
anniversary of the Prince's birth. 

On the anniversary of the lamented Prince Consort's 
birthday, Wednesday, August 26th, 1863, her Majesty, 
then at the Castle of Eosenau, planted a tree in remem- 
brance, in front of the Schloss in which the revered 
Prince was born. The Duchess of Coburg visited the 
Queen early in the day ; and the same day Prince and 
Princess Louis of Hesse, arriving on a visit to the Duchess 
of Coburg, immediately proceeded to visit her Majesty, 
and remained with her till the evening. 

On the 7th of September the Queen and Eoyal 
family left Posenau, on their return to England. The 
next day, the 8th, her Majesty reached Kranichstein, 
near Darmstadt, and spent the day with Princess Louis 
of Hesse. The Queen took leave of the Princess, and left 
Kranichstein at ten o'clock the same evening. Next 
morning she embarked at Antwerp for England, and had 
to encounter a boisterous storm. 

The Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse accompanied 

K K 2 



496 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

the Prince and Princess of Wales, on May 30th, 1864, to 
Claremont, on the occasion of the marriage of the Comte 
de Paris, where these illustrious guests, after being received 
by the members of the French Royal family, were con- 
ducted into the reception-room to the presence of the late 
venerable Queen of the French, who received and welcomed 
them. The Prince of Wales and Princess Louis of 
Hesse, at the dejeuner, sat on the right of the aged 
Queen ; the Duke of Mecklenburg and the Princess of 
Wales on the left. Princess Alice wore a blue silk on this 
occasion. Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse also in the 
evening attended the ball given by the Duke de Chartres, 
in honour of this occasion. 

At the, christening of Prince George, second son of the 
Prince of Wales, July 7th, 1865, two of the sponsors 
were represented by the Royal sister princesses. Princess 
Louis of Hesse (Princess Alice), was represented by 
H.R.H. Princess Louise, and the Duchess of Cambridge 
by H.R.H. Princess Helena. 

The accouchement of Princess Louis of Hesse took 
place on Wednesday 11th July, 1866, at Darmstadt. 
The Princess, with her infant daughter, progressed most 
favourably ; the child was named Irene Mary Louisa 
Anna. 

By command of the Queen a Drawing Room was 
held on Saturday, June 15th, 1867, at St. James's Palace, 
by Princess Louis of Hesse, at which Court all pre- 
sentations made were, by the Queen's pleasure, con- 
sidered equivalent to presentations made to her Majesty. 
On this occasion the Princess appeared in a blue and silver 
moire train, thickly embroidered with silver, and a blue 
crape petticoat trimmed with white and silver, a diadem 
of diamonds, two rows of diamonds round the neck, and a 



ALICE MAUD MARY. 497 

large diamond brooch and earrings. The Orders worn by her 
were Victoria and Albert, Louise of Prussia, St. Catherine 
of Eussia, with diamond star, St. Isabel of Portugal, and 
the Mecklenburg Order. 

When the magnificent State Ball was given at Buck- 
ingham Palace in the same month, Princess Louis of 
Hesse, the Prince of Wales, and Prince Louis of Hesse 
arrived at the garden entrance about half-past ten, from 
Marlborough House. Princess Louise was there also 
about the same time, attended by Lady Caroline Barring- 
ton and Colonel Cavendish. 

Princess Louis of Hesse continued to reside with the 
Court, then at Windsor, in June, 1867, her family and 
herself in good health. 

By command of the Queen a Drawing Room was held on 
Thursday, June 27th, at St. James's Palace, on behalf of 
her Majesty. At this thirty-five presentations took place. 
The Princess Alice took her station in front of the Throne, 
accompanied by the Prince of Wales. 

A ball was given at the Hotel de Ville to the Sovereigns 
then visiting Paris, June, 1867. This fete given by the 
Prefect of the Seine to the Emperor of Russia and the King 
of Prussia cost more than 36,000£. The guests were more 
than 8000 in number. The limits of this work debar 
any description, but it may be noted that on the raised 
platform in the centre of the Salle des Fetes, underneath 
a silken canopy the Emperor of Russia and the King of 
Prussia occupied two central seats, the Emperor Napoleon 
being at the right of the Russian Czar, and the Empress 
at the left of the King of Prussia. The other Princes 
and Princesses were placed according to their rank. In 
the quadrille of honour the Czarewitch danced with 
Princess Louis of Hesse (Princess Alice), and the Grand 



108 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Duke Vladimir with his cousin, Princess Eugenie of 
Leuchtenburg. 

On July 20th, 1867, the Queen, accompanied by Prince 
and Princess Louis of Hesse, Princess Louise, Princes 
Arthur and Leopold, and Princess Beatrice, left Windsor 
Castle, en route for Qsborne House. The Princess Vic- 
toria, Princess Elizabeth, and Princess Irene of Hesse, 
and the infant Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig- 
Holstein having left the Castle early in the morning 
for the same place. 

When the magnificent reception was given to the Sultan 
in Jul}-, 1867, by the Corporation of the City of London, 
Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse honoured Guildhall by 
their presence. Upon this occasion the Address of the 
Lord Mayor was read and duly responded to. Three 
thrones were erected on a carpeted eminence before the 
dais, and two velvet-cushioned chairs. The Sultan occu- 
pied the central throne, with the Prince of Wales on his 
right, the Lord Mayor on his left, and the Lady 
Mayoress and Princess Louis of Hesse on end chairs. 

When the dancing commenced the Princess Alice of 
Hesse said, with spirit, " I am going to dance with the 
Lord Mayor." But alas! the Lord Mayor was no dancer; 
and, sad to say, was forced to confess it, and decline the 
honour about to be conferred on him by a Royal Princess 
of England. In this civic visit the agreeable manners of 
Princess Alice won every heart, 

Princess Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt, with her younger 
children, accompanied the Crown Princess of Prussia on her 
return from Homburg to Berlin, at the close of 1870. 

In addition to the children of the Princess Louis of 
Hesse, we must mention that she has had two sons by her 
marriage — viz. : Ernest Louis Charles Albert William, born 
Nov. 25th, 18G8, and a young prince, born Oct. 7th, 1870* 



499 



PRINCESS HELENA AUGUSTA 
VICTORIA, 

THIRD DAUGHTER OF HER MAJESTY. 

The firing of the Park and Tower guns at three o'clock 
in the afternoon of May 25th, 1846, announced that 
another addition had been made to the family of our be- 
loved Queen ; and the same day the happy event was duly 
confirmed by the publication of the official bulletin, which 
stated that at Buckingham Palace, " at five minutes 
before three o'clock this afternoon," the Queen was hap- 
pily delivered of a Princess, there being present on the 
occasion, besides his Royal Highness Prince Albert, 
several Lords of her Majesty's Privy Council and the 
Ladies of the Bedchamber. The tidings quickly spread 
through the metropolis, and successive announcements 
made known that her Majesty and the infant Princess 
were both doing well. 

As soon as practicable, the Privy Council having 
assembled at the Council Chamber, Whitehall, a Form of 
Thanksgiving, usual on such occasions, was ordered to be 
prepared by the Archbishop of Canterbury, to be read 
all churches and chapels on Sunday, May 31st, or the 
Sunday next after the receipt of the same by the respec- 
tive ministers. In pursuance of this order, a suitable 
prayer was ordered to be read in all churches through- 
out England. 

The 24th of May had become memorable as the day 



500 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

which gave Queen Victoria herself to the British nation. 
But we may add that the date of her infant's birth, May 
25th, 1S46, was marked by an event which has led to 
great changes in the history of Europe. This was no less 
than the escape of the late Emperor of the French from 
the castle of Ham. His subsequent adventures, his be- 
coming President of the Bepublic, the famous coup 
d'etat, his elevation to the rank of Emperor, and his 
recent downfall, are events of much too great importance 
to be discussed in these pages. 

The Royal babe was not long after baptised at Buck- 
ingham Palace, the ceremony taking place July 25th. On 
this occasion most of the members of the Royal family were 
present ; the Foreign Powers connected with them by mar- 
riage were also represented ; there were besides, the Cabinet 
Ministers, Officers of the Royal Household, the Duke of 
Wellington, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of 
London and of Norwich, the Rev. Mr. Courtenay and the 
Rev. Mr. Howarth, and a train of official and distinguished 
personages. 

The Primate of England performed the ceremony, when 
the names Helena Augusta Victoria were duly bestowed 
on the Royal infant. There were three sponsors : the 
Duchess of Kent, as proxy for the Duchess of Orleans ; 
the other two being his Royal Highness the Hereditary 
Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and her Royal 
Highness the Duchess of Cambridge. 

Afterwards there was a State Banquet. 

As an instance of the simple and admirable way in 
which the Queen brought up her children, we may state 
that at Osborne a large portion of pleasure-ground was 
appropriated to the use of the young Princes and Prin- 
cesses. Each of them had a flower and vegetable garden, 



HELENA AUGUSTA YICTOEIA. 501 

greenhouses, hothouses, and forcing frames, nurseries, 
tool-houses, and even a carpenter's shop. Here the Royal 
children used to pass much of their time. Each was sup- 
plied with a set of tools, marked with the name of the 
owner, and here they became quite adepts in the various 
branches of gardening. There was, moreover, a building 
provided, the ground floor of which was fitted up as a 
kitchen, with pantries, closets, dairy, larder — all complete 
in their arrangements. In this building might be seen 
the young Princess and her sisters arrayed a la cuisiniere, 
floured up to the elbows, deep in the mysteries of pastry - 
making ; cooking vegetables from their own gardens, 
preserving, pickling, baking — either to partake among 
themselves, or to distribute their handiwork to the neigh- 
bouring poor. The Queen would have nothing left un- 
learned by her children, who were the happiest of the 
happy when staying in their home at Osborne. 

The Queen, in her " Journal," after making mention of 
her children, and when speaking of one of her explorations, 
which took place on Wednesday, October 16th, 1861, thus 
adverts to the Princess Helena : — " Helena was so de- 
lighted, for this was the only really great expedition in 
which she had accompanied us." 

On Monday, the day before the Princess of Wales's 
birthday, the Queen, accompanied by the Princesses 
Helena and Louise, attended by the Hon. Mrs. Bruce, 
Major-General the Hon. A. 1ST. Hood, and Colonel F. 
Ponsonby, went to London, and visited the Duchess 
Dowager of Sutherland and Lady Augusta Bruce, at 
their respective residences. Her Majesty also honoured 
Mr. Foley and Mr. Theed with a visit at their studios. 
At Mr. Foley's, the Queen inspected the monument to 
the late General Bruce ; and at Mr. Theed's, her Majesty 



o02 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

inspected the statues of the Prince Consort and the Duchess 
of Kent, both of which were advancing towards completion. 

By command of the Queen a Drawing Eoom was held 
on Tuesday, at St. James's Palace, by Princess Helena, 
on behalf of her Majesty. Presentations at this Court 
were, by the Queen's pleasure, considered as equivalent to 
presentations to her Majesty. Princess Helena, accom- 
panied by Princess Louise, attended by the ladies and 
gentlemen in waiting, and escorted by a detachment of 
the Life Guards, arrived at St. James's from Buckingham 
Palace at two o'clock, and was received by the Duchess 
of Wellington and the great Officers of State of the 
Queen's Household. The Prince of Wales, escorted by 
a detachment of the Horse Guards, and attended by the 
Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, Mr. C. L. Woods, and 
Lieutenant-Colonel Keppel, arrived at the Palace from 
Marlborough House about two o'clock. The Duke of 
Cambridge, the Duke and Duchess de Brabant, and 
Prince Edward of Saxe- Weimar were present at the Court. 
The Hon. Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms was on duty, as 
was also the Corps of Yeomen of the Guard. 

Princess Helena took her station in front of the Throne, 
accompanied by the Prince of Wales, Princess Louise, and 
the other members of the .Royal family, with the 
various ladies and gentlemen in attendance. 

Princess Helena wore a train of rich white silk, trimmed 
with bouillons of tulle, and bouquetsjof narcissus ; petticoat 
of white glace, covered with tulle, and festooned with 
wreaths of narcissus. Her head-dress was a diadem of 
emeralds and diamonds, plume, and veil ; the ornaments, 
emeralds and diamonds, with the Victoria and Albert 
Order, and Order of St. Isabel. 

Princess Louise wore a train of rich blue silk, trimmed 



HELENA AUGUSTA YICTOEIA. 503> 

with ruches of tulle and silver cord ; petticoat of white 
glace, with a tunic of silver tulle, trimmed with straw- 
berry blossoms. Head-dress, wreath of strawberry blos- 
soms, plume, and veil ; ornaments, rubies and diamonds ; 
and Victoria and Albert Order. 

The Foreign Ambassadors and Ministers having been 
introduced in the order of their precedence, several pre- 
sentations in the diplomatic circle took place. 

The Queen opened Parliament in person February 6th, 
1866. The Queen's Speech, read from the Throne by the 
Lord Chancellor, announced the intended marriage of the 
Princess Helena with Prince Christian. 

" I have recently declared my consent to a marriage- 
between my daughter Princess Helena, and Prince 
Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sondenburg-Augusten- 
burg. I trust this union maybe prosperous and happy." 

The Queen then proceeded to allude in feeling terms 
to the loss of her beloved uncle, the King of the Belgians. 

The approaching marriage of Princess Helena, an- 
nounced by her Majesty, gave occasion, at an early day 
in the Session, to messages from the Crown to the two 
Houses, asking them to concur in making a provision for 
the Princess ; also for Prince Alfred, on his coming of age. 

The dowry agreed to by Parliament to be bestowed on 
the Princess, who was described by the Chancellor of the 
Exchequer "to have been for some time the stay and 
solace of her illustrious mother," was 30,000Z., with an 
annuity of 6000Z, 

At a Court held on Saturday, May 5th, 1866, Princess 
Helena wore a train of pink silk, trimmed with bows 
of pink and white satin ribbon ; with head-dress, pink 
roses, feathers, and veil. Diamond ornaments, Victoria 
and Albert Order, and Order of St. Isabel. 



501 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

The twentieth anniversary (25th May) of the birth of 
H.E.H. Princess Helena, was kept at Windsor Castle by 
command of her Majesty, by an entertainment, as well in 
honour of that event as also of her approaching nuptials. 

The fete was given in the afternoon in the Conser- 
vatory of the Castle to all the servants of the Eoyal 
Household, their wives and children, for whom tea had 
been provided, and was followed afterwards by a dance. 
These rejoicings took place in the presence of her 
Majesty and the Eoyal family. 

A deputation of ladies, consisting of the Hon. Mrs. 
Locke King, and ten others, among whom was Miss 
Nugent, had the honour of being received by her Eoyal 
Highness Princess Helena, at Windsor Castle, in July, 
1S66; to present her Eoyal Highness with a Bible, accom- 
panied by an admirable address, which was read by Miss 
Nugent. 

Her Eoyal Highness, in accepting the gift, thus 
replied : — 

" Accept my warmest thanks for your beautiful present : 
it is most valuable to me in itself, but it is rendered still 
more so by the kind words with which you have accom- 
panied it, and by the proof thus given that you, daughters 
like myself of our dear England, can appreciate the feel- 
ings which bind me to my native land, and to my beloved 
mother, and can sympathize with the joy that fills my 
heart to think that it will still be my happiness to live 
among you." 

The total of subscribers for the present was 7786. 

Prince Frederick Christian was born on January 22nd, 
1831, and is a younger son of the late Duke of Schleswig- 
Holstein, who, owing to his claims to the Sovereignty of 
that Duchy, gave a pretext for war to the German Powers. 



HELENA AUGUSTA YICTOEIA. 505 

The full family name is Schleswig-Holstein-Sondenburg- 
Augustenburg, and its lineage is collateral with that of 
the reigning families of Denmark and Russia. The father 
of Prince Christian married in 1820, a Danish lady, Louisa 
Sophia, Countess of Danneskiold-Samsoe, which union led 
to the birth of several children. 

The London Gazette gave the following announcement 
at the time of his marriage with Princess Helena. " The 
Queen has been pleased to declare and ordain that his 
Serene Highness Prince Frederick Christian Charles 
Augustus, of Schleswig-Holstein-Sondenburg-Augusten- 
burg, shall henceforth, upon all occasions whatsoever, be 
styled ' His Royal Highness' before his name, . and such 
titles as now do and hereafter may belong to him ; and 
to command that the said Royal concession and declara- 
tion be registered in her Majesty's College of Arms. The 
Queen has also been pleased to appoint his Royal Highness 
Prince Frederick William Charles Augustus, of Schleswig- 
Holstein, to be Major-General in the Army." 

Prince Christian had before this marriage held a com- 
mission in the Prussian Army. It has been said the 
Princess Helena first became acquainted with her present 
husband on the occasion of unveiling the statue of the 
Prince Consort at Coburg, and that the striking resem- 
blance he bore to her beloved father, had interested in 
his favour the affections of the young Princess. 

Prince Christian came to England on Monday, July 
2nd, 1866, having crossed from Hamburg to Dover in 
H.M.S. Helicon. He was received on his arrival with Royal 
honours, and proceeded soon after to London by the 
South Eastern Railway, and on his arrival drove to 
Buckingham Palace. That day he visited the King and 
Queen of the Belgians, the Prince and Princess of Wales, 



506 THE EOTAL PRINCESSES. 

and the Duke of Cambridge. On Tuesday, he left the 
Palace, and, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, pro- 
ceeded to Windsor Castle. At the station a guard of 
honour, consisting of three sergeants and one hundred 
rank and file of the third battalion Grenadier Guards, 
with the Queen's colours, and the band of the regiment, 
was drawn up. An escort of thirty troopers of the Eoyal 
Horse Guards was also present, and escorted the Prince 
to the Castle. The Queen and Princesses, attended bj r 
the ladies and gentlemen in waiting, received his Eoyal 
Highness at the entrance of the Castle. 

The nuptials of her Eoyal Highness Helena Augusta 
Tictoria with his Eoyal Highness Prince Christian were so- 
lemnized in the Chapel within Windsor Castle, soon after 
twelve o'clock, July 5th, 1866. 

The members of the Eoyal family, and other Eoyal and 
illustrious visitors who were to be present, assembled in 
the White Drawing Boom at twelve o'clock. 

The Princess Helena was in the Queen's private apart- 
ments, the suite of her Eoyal Highness remaining in the 
adjoining corridor ; while Prince Christian, with the 
supporters of his Eoyal Highness and attendants, took 
their places in the Eed Eoom. 

The ladies and gentlemen of the Queen's Household 
assembled in the corridor, which was also occupied by the 
ladies and gentlemen in attendance on the Eoyal visitors. 
The Foreign Ambassadors, with the Cabinet Ministers 
and others invited to be present, assembled in the Eed and 
Green Drawing Eooms, from whence they were conducted 
to seats provided for them in the Chapel. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London 
(Dean of her Majesty's Chapel Eoyal), the Bishop of 
Oxford, the Bishop of Worcester, the Bishop of Win- 
chester (Prelate of the Order of the Garter), and the 



HELENA AUGUSTA VICTORIA. 507 

Dean of Windsor, assembled and robed in the Audience 
Chamber, whence they proceeded to the Chapel and took 
their places within the rails of the altar. 

As soon as the visitors had taken their seats, the Royal 
procession was formed in the corridor, and moved from 
the White Drawing Room in formal order. 

As the procession passed along the corridor and entered 
the Chapel, Mendelssohn's March from " Athalie" was 
played while the Bridegroom was conducted to the seat pre- 
pared for his Royal Highness on the right side of the altar. 
The supporters occupied seats near his Royal Highness. 

The Lord Chamberlain and Vice-Chamberlain then re- 
turned, as before, to her Majesty's apartments, to attend 
her Majesty and the Bride, whose procession having been 
formed, moved to the Chapel in the following order : — 

The Lord Chamberlain and the Vice-Chamberlain. 

The Bride, 

Supported by her Majesty the Queen and 

H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. 

The train of her Royal Highness borne by eight 

unmarried daughters of Dukes, Marquises, and Earls. 

The Mistress of the Robes, the Duchess of Wellington. 

The Lady of the Bedchamber in Waiting, the 

Duchess of Roxburghe. 

The Maids of Honour in Waiting, 

Hon. Emily S. Cathcart ; Hon. Horatia C. Stopford. 

The Woman of the Bedchamber in Waiting, the 

Hon. Mrs. Robert Bruce. 

The Lord of the Bedchamber to H.R.H. the Prince of 

Wales, the Viscount Hamilton. 

The Lord in Waiting, Lord Methuen. 

The Procession winding up with the equerries and other 

officials. % 



BK— 



508 THE ROYAL PEINCESSES. 

As the procession passed along the corridor, Handel's 
March from "Scipio" was played. 

Her Majesty's dress was of rich black moire antique, 
interwoven with silver and trimmed with black crape, 
and a row of diamonds round the body. Her 
Majesty wore a coronet of diamonds attached to a 
long white crape lisse veil, a diamond necklace and cross, 
and a brooch composed of a large sapphire set in 
diamonds. Her Majesty also wore the ribbon and star 
of the Order of the Garter, and the Victoria and Albert 
Order. 

H.K.H. Princess Helena wore a bridal dress of rich blue 
satin, with deep flounces of Honiton guipure, the train of 
extra length trimmed with bouquets of orange-blossom 
and myrtle, lined with white glace and trimmed with 
Honiton guipure, with cordons and bouquets of orange- 
blossom and myrtle. The design of the lace was of roses, 
ivy, and myrtle, and the wreath was composed of orange- 
blossoms and myrtle, while the bridal veil (a square) was 
of the choicest Honiton lace to match the dress ; the 
Bride also wore a necklace. 

The King of the Belgians, the Prince of Wales, Prince 
Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, and Prince Edward of 
Saxe-Weimar wore military uniforms ; the Duke of Edin- 
burgh that of his naval rank ; while the Duke of Argyll ap- 
peared in Highland costume. 

The ceremony over, the Bride was warmly embraced by 
her Majesty and the Prince of Wales, and leaning upon the 
arm of her husband, was then conducted by the united 
procession to the White Drawing Room, and in presence 
of the dignitaries of the Church the Registry of the 
Marriage was attested in due form. 

The Royal party after this partook of luncheon pri- 



HELENA AUGUSTA TICTOEIA. 509 

vately in the Oak Eoom. There was, of course, a magni- 
ficent wedding-cake. 

After luncheon the Bride and Bridegroom started for 
Osborne, soon after four o'clock, after bidding farewell 
to the Queen and the Royal family. They left the Castle 
in an open carriage, drawn by four greys, with outriders in 
scarlet, and proceeded to the station of the Great Western 
Railway, with an escort of the Royal Horse Guards, amidst 
the hearty cheers of the people. 

On arriving at Southampton they were met at the 
railway station by the Mayor and Corporation of that 
town, who presented an address of congratulation. They 
embarked in the Royal yacht Alberta, and were thus con- 
veyed to Osborne, where they remained until Saturday, 
when they were joined by the Queen, who came that day 
from Windsor. 

Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein 
embarked from Osborne in the Royal yacht Victoria and 
Albert, commander the Prince Leiningen, en route for 
Cherbourg, whence they made a Continental tour, visiting 
Paris, &c, and afterwards rejoined the Queen at Balmoral. 

The Queen's gift to Prince Christian on this occasion 
was a silver service for the dinner table, comprising a large 
centre-piece and two side-pieces, with a set of candlesticks ; 
the centre-piece representing tall clumps of bulrushes in 
pools of water, with swans and water lilies. 

Among the wedding presents was the bracelet given to 
the Bride by the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh. This massive 
gold armlet had for its centre an ornament composed of 
white enamel with Indian rubies and pearls, and was so 
made as to be removed and worn as a brooch. The band, 
which was most elegant, was composed of diagonal lines of 
Oriental pearls and rubies. 

L L 



510 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Princess Christian gave birth to a Prince at Windsor 
Castle, at five in the afternoon, April 14th, 1867. 
The Queen, who had constantly remained with her daugh- 
ter during the day, was present when the child was born, 
as was also Prince Christian, while the eminent medical 
attendants and official personages were waiting, as custo- 
mary, in adjoining apartments. Telegraphic communica- 
tions announced that the state of her Royal Highness and 
the infant Prince continued very favourable. 

The ceremony of the christening was fixed for Tuesday, 
May 21st, 18G7, in the private chapel of Windsor Castle, 
when the robe, mantle, and cap worn by the infant 
Prince were of rich Irish lace over white satin, the gift 
of the Queen. 

The ceremony took place at one o'clock. Chairs were 
arranged on each side of the nave for the Queen, the spon- 
sors, and the Eoyal personages invited to be present. 
The font was placed in front of the altar, the officiating 
clergy being seated within the rails of the altar. 

The occasion was honoured by the presence of Royal 
personages, the relatives of the Princess, several Cabinet 
Ministers and Foreign Ambassadors, and other distin- 
guished guests. 

The sponsors for the infant Prince were the Queen, the 
Prince of Wales, Princess Louise (proxy for the Crown 
Princess of Prussia), the Duke of Edinburgh (proxy for 
the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha), Prince Arthur (proxy 
for the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Augustenburg), and 
Lady Churchill (proxy for the Princess Dowager of 
Hohenlohe-Lauenburg). The sponsors were ranged on 
the left side of the altar, and the infant Prince was after- 
wards brought into the chapel, attended by Lady Susan 
Melville. The Queen then handed the Prince to the 



HELENA AUGUSTA YICTOEIA. 511 

Archbishop, and named him Christian Victor Albert 
Ludwig Ernest Anton. 

Her Majesty, accompanied by the Royal and distin- 
guished guests, afterwards proceeded to the Green Drawing 
Eoom, where the baptismal registry was completed. 
Luncheon was served for the Eoyal family in the Oak 
Eoom, and for the other guests in the Dining Eoom. 
During the collation the Lord Steward gave the following 
toasts — "Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein," 
" The Queen," " Their Eoyal Highnesses the Prince and 
Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein." 

Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, 
attended by Lieut.-Col. and Mrs. G. G. Gordon, left 
Frogmore House, June 24th, en route for the Con- 
tinent, on a visit to the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein- 
Augustenburg, and other members of Prince Christian's 
family in Silesia. Their infant son, Prince Christian 
Victor, remaining at Windsor Castle during the absence 
of his parents. 

The Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein 
arrived at Dover 15th August, 1867, on their return from, 
the Continent, and proceeded shortly after by the South- 
eastern Railway, on their way to Windsor. Their Eoyal 
Highnesses, who were attired in mourning, arrived at the 
Windsor station at 7.40 the same evening, and on quitting 
the train drove at once to Frogmore House. 

Prince and Princess Christian entertained Princess 
Louise, the Duke of Cambridge, and a distinguished 
circle at dinner at Frogmore Lodge, on the 23rd November, 
1867. Their Eoyal Highnesses afterwards had an evening 
party, at which Prince Arthur and Prince Leopold were 
present. 

On the following Sunday the Prince and Princess, the 
l l 2 



512 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Duke of Cambridge, and Princess Henrietta of Schleswig- 
Holstein, attended Divine service in the private chapel of 
Windsor Castle ; and on the next day the Prince and 
Princess left Frogmore Lodge, on a visit to the Duke and 
Duchess of Marlborough, at Blenheim Palace. 

After their return from this visit, the Prince and Prin- 
cess Christian paid a visit to the Prince and Princess of 
Wales at Sandringham. The Duke and Duchess d'Aumale 
at the same time visited Sandringham, where many dis- 
tinguished guests had then assembled to celebrate her 
Royal Highness the Princess's birthday. The Prince met 
their Royal Highnesses at Wolverton Station on the 2nd 
December, and the children assembled to celebrate the 
birthday received the Royal party with loud acclamations. 

The Prince and Princess Christian, and Princess 
Henrietta of Schleswig-Holstein, left Frogmore Lodge 
Dec. 17th, 1867, and after paying a visit to M. and 
Madame Van de Weyer, at New Lodge, Wenkfield, 
and to Earl Cowley at Draycot, proceeded to 
Osborne House on a visit to the Queen, to pass the 
Christmas. 

On Christmas Eve the Queen gave a Christmas 
tree to the children of the Whippingham Schools. 
Her Majesty, accompanied by Prince and Princess 
Christian, Princesses Louise and Beatrice, Princes Arthur 
and Leopold, and the Princess Henrietta of Schleswig- 
Holstein, and attended by the ladies and gentlemen of 
her suite, entered the servants' hall, where the children 
were assembled. Here her Majesty, assisted by the 
members of the Royal family, distributed the gifts. Re- 
freshments were also given to the labourers on the Royal 
demesne. 

The Duke of St. Albans was married to Miss Sybil 



HELENA AUGUSTA YICTOEIA. 513 

Grey on the thirtieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's 
accession, at the Chapel Royal, St. James's. Among the 
guests on this occasion were Prince and Princess Christian 
and Princess Louise, who came to London from Windsor, 
and honoured the breakfast with their presence. There were- 
Eoyal gifts, too, to the fair bride : the Queen gave a gold 
chain and locket, with a cross in rubies studded with 
diamonds, and two valuable Indian shawls. The Prince 
of Wales made some costly presents, Prince and Princess 
Louis of Hesse gave a large gold locket with ruby centre ; 
Princess Christian a handsome china vase, Princess Louise 
a lapis-lazuli and pearl locket. 

The Princess Christian of Schles wig-Hols tein gave birth 
to a son at Frogmore House, Windsor, February 26th, 
1869. This gratifying intelligence, accompanied by the 
assurance that mother and infant were perfectly well, was 
no sooner received by the Queen, than her Majesty and 
the Royal family left Osborne for Windsor. There they 
were met at the station by Prince Christian, who accom- 
panied the Queen and Princess Louise to Frogmore 
House, then, having visited the Princess Christian and 
taken luncheon, they proceeded to the Castle. The Queen's 
visits were afterwards very frequent to her daughter. 

The baptismal names of the infant Prince were Albert 
John. 

The Queen received intelligence, on the 20th March, 
1869, of the death of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein- 
Augustenburg, father of Prince Christian, which took 
place at Prinkenau, in Silesia. Court mourning was 
ordered on the receipt of this sad news. 

The Queen and the Royal family visited the Royal 
mausoleum at Frogmore on Tuesday, the eighth anni- 
versarv of the death of the Duchess of Kent. 



514 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein returned, 25th 
March, 18G9, to Frogmore House, from attending the 
funeral of his father on the Continent. 

Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, 
accompanied by their two children, and attended by Lady 
Susan Melville and Colonel Gordon, left Frogmore 
House for London, en route for Balmoral Castle, on 
a visit to the Queen. Upon the arrival of their Royal 
Highnesses at the Euston terminus, the Princess felt 
unequal to the fatigue of so long a journey ; and symptoms 
being apparent of a return of the indisposition which pre- 
vented Princess Christian from accompanying the Queen 
to the Highlands, it was arranged, by the advice of Sir 
William Jenner, that their Royal Highnesses should return 
to Frogmore. The Princess was sufficiently recovered to 
drive in the grounds of Frogmore on the following day. 
The Prince of Wales visited her Royal Highness early in 
the day. Dr. Fairbank, her Majesty's surgeon, who had 
left Windsor for Paris, was telegraphed for to be in atten- 
dance upon the Princess, who, in the meanwhile, was under 
the care of Sir William Jenner. A Queen's messenger pro- 
ceeded to Scotland with intelligence of the sudden indis- 
position of her Royal Highness. The Princess con- 
tinued to regain strength, and Prince Christian went on a 
visit to the Queen at Balmoral, the Princess remaining at 
Frogmore House. 

In November, 1869, occurred the marriages of the 
Marquis of Lansdowne with Lady Maud Hamilton, and 
the Marquis of Blandford with the Lady Alberta 
Hamilton, daughters of the Duke and Duchess of Aber- 
corn, which were celebrated at Westminster Abbey in 
presence of a Royal and noble assemblage ; there being 
among others present the Prince and Princess of Wales 



HELENA ATJGUSTA YICTOKIA. 515 

and Prince and Princess Christian. Each of the noble 
brides had six bridesmaids, and the gifts on the occasion 
to the fair brides (of whom one, Lady Alberta, was god- 
child of the late Prince Consort) were both costly and 
magnificent. 

On Monday, December 13th, 1869, Princess Christian 
laid the foundation of the new chancel in the parish 
church of JSTew Windsor. Prince Christian was present 
at the ceremony. Their Eoyal Highnesses dined with 
the Queen. 

His Royal Highness is now Lord High Steward of 
Windsor — an office never before filled since the death of 
the late Prince Consort. 



516 



LOUISE CAROLINE ALBERTA. 

Pbincess Louise, the fourth daughter of our gracious 
Sovereign, whose name is at this time on the lip of every 
young lady in the United Kingdom, and who, being on 
the eve of her union with the object of her cherished at- 
tachment, engages the sympathy of all her sex — the 
Princess Louise is generally considered as one of the most 
beautiful and accomplished of the daughters of her Majesty. 
Her advantages have certainly been great, for she has 
necessarily been much more in the society of her beloved 
mother than any of her other children, and has proved 
one of the greatest sources of consolation to her under 
her heavy bereavement. Every incident of the lives of 
this Royal family of sister Princesses is deserving of 
record, but limited as this work must be, we must be 
content to select a few points which demand especial 
notice. 

The birth of the Princess took place on the morning 
of March 18th, 1848, at Buckingham Palace. 

In the room with her Majesty were Prince Albert, Dr. 
Locock, and Mrs. Lilly, the monthly nurse. In the 
adjoining apartment were the other medical attendants, Sir 
James Clark and Dr. Ferguson. The Duchess of Kent was 
present with the lady in waiting on the Queen ; also the 
ministers and officers of State summoned on the occasion. 
Her Majesty's progress to recovery was happily so 
favourable that but few bulletins were issued. 

The following " Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving" was 



LOUISE CAROLINE ALBERTA. 517 

ordered to be read in all churches and chapels in the 
Kingdom on Sunday, the 26th March. 

" Almighty and merciful God, by whose Providence 
the whole world is governed and preserved ; we yield 
Thee hearty thanks that it hath pleased Thee to deliver 
Thy servant, our Sovereign Lady the Queen, from the 
perils of childbirth, and to make her a joyful mother. 
We humbly beseech Thee to keep her under Thy fatherly 
care and protection ; and enable her in the hour of weak- 
ness to feel the support of Thine everlasting arm. De- 
fend the infant Princess from all dangers which may 
happen to the body, and from all evil which may assault 
and hurt the soul ; and grant that as she grows in years 
she may grow in grace, and in every Christian virtue. Let 
Thy continual help preserve our Queen and her Royal 
Consort ; that Thou being their ruler and guide they may 
so pass through things temporal that they finally lose 
not the things eternal. 

" And grant, O Lord, that Thy goodness to our land 
may so affect the hearts of us, Thy people, that we may 
show our thankfulness by ready obedience to Thy will, 
by dutiful allegiance to our Sovereign, and by Christian 
charity, one towards another, that so living in the faith 
of Thy dear Son, who loved us, and gave himself for us, 
we may be, indeed, a holy nation, a peculiar people, and 
shew forth Thy praise, who hast called us to Thy king- 
dom and glory. Grant this, Heavenly Father, for 
Jesus Christ's sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour. 
Amen." 

The baptism of the Princess took place in the Chapel 
of Buckingham Palace. 

The sponsors were his Serene Highness the Duke 
Gustavus of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (represented by the 



518 THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

Prince Consort), the reigning Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen 
(represented by the Queen-Dowager), and the Hereditary 
Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (represented by the 
Duchess of Cambridge). The baptismal service was 
performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the 
Queen-Dowager named the Princess, Louise Caroline 
Alberta. 

On Thursday, March 18th, 1849, a juvenile party was 
given at Buckingham Palace, on the occasion of the little 
Princess having arrived at the first anniversary of her 
birth. And here it may be remarked that the aged nurse 
of the Marquis of Lome the other day reminded him, 
when he kindly called to see her in her late illness, that 
he had to thank her for being the first person who took 
him, when a child, to see the Princess at Buckingham 
Palace! Was it perhaps on this very "occasion ? Of 
the young " Heir of Argyll" the Queen thus speaks in her 
Journal, when making a visit to Inverary Castle, little 
imagining that he was destined to become her future son- 
in-la w 

" Outside stood the Marquis of Lome, just two years old, 
a dear, white, fat, fair little fellow, with reddish hair, but 
very delicate features ; like both his father and mother ; he 
is such a merry, independent little child. He had a black 
velvet dress and jacket, with a ' sporran' scarf and High- 
land bonnet." 

Her Majesty and Prince Albert, with the Royal children, 
on March 23rd, 1850, visited the New Palace at West- 
minster, the New House of Commons, the Centre Hall, 
St. Stephen's Hall, the Peers' Library, and the frescoes 
then in progress of execution. 

The Queen and the Prince, with the younger members 
of the Royal family, on Friday the 20fch April, inspected 



LOUISE CAROLINE ALBEBTA. 519 

the presents sent to her Majesty by the Emperor of 
Morocco, consisting of nine barbs, with the dress saddles 
of the country and horse furniture complete. These pre- 
sents were delivered to the Queen and Prince AlbertbyHadj 
Abdallah Lamartz, Kaid Abdekrim, and Hassan Boocheta. 
On the following morning three of the horses were in- 
spected in the Riding School, when Abdallah Lamartz 
and Kaid Abdekrim, together with a groom, exhibited 
feats of horsemanship with which the Queen and Prince 
and the younger members of the Royal family were much 
gratified. 

The Queen gave a State Ball on Wednesday, June 
29th, 1850, at which all the members of the Royal family 
were present. 

The Court at Osborne, July 27th, 1850.— On Friday 
the Queen visited Carisbrook Castle with Prince Albert 
and some of the Royal children ; not forgetting the 
window where Charles I. tried to make his escape. 

Her Majesty and Prince Albert, with the younger 
members of the Royal family, left Buckingham Palace for 
Balmoral, on the 7th August, 1860. Her Majesty pro- 
fited by this occasion to review the Volunteers of Scotland 
in the Queen's Park, Edinburgh. 

The quiet sojourn of the Court at Balmoral was not 
interrupted by any circumstances needing record. The 
Court left Balmoral on the 15th and returned to Osborne? 
which was left a few days afterwards for a visit to Ger- 
many. An account of which has already been given in 
the memoir of the Princess Royal. 

On Christmas Eve this year, by her Majesty's com- 
mand, the children of the workmen and labourers on the 
Osborne estate assembled in the servants' hall at Osborne, 
where a Christmas tree with gifts was arranged. At half- 



5l20 THE ROYAL TRINCESSES. 

past four o'clock the Queen, accompanied by the members 
of the Royal family, proceeded to the hall, and assisted 
by the Princes and Princesses, distributed the presents to 
the children, which consisted of articles of wearing apparel, 
books, to} r s, &c. The Queen subsequently gave the 
labouring men and women great coats, blankets, and 
other articles. 

The following year, 1861, was one of great trial to our 
excellent Queen and all the Royal family. The first grief 
which she was called upon to suffer was the loss of her 
mother, the Duchess of Kent, who died on the 16th of 
March, after a short illness. In the latter part of the 
year the Prince Consort was taken ill, and although no 
fatal issue was at first dreaded, it too soon became mani- 
fest that his days were numbered. To the intense sorrow 
of her Majesty and the Royal family, as well as to her 
subjects throughout the United Kingdom, the Prince 
breathed his last on the 14th of December. This sad 
event had the effect of withdrawing the Queen in a 
great degree from appearing in public; her chief con- 
solation being in the affectionate care and attentions of 
her children, conspicuous among whom were the Princesses 
Alice and Louise. 

During the Queen's visit to Germany in 1863, Princess 
Louise remained at Osborne, under the care of Lady 
Caroline Barrington, the Hon. Horatia Stopford, and 
Lieut.-Col. Cavendish. 

It was about this time that Mrs. Thornyeroft was 
appointed instructress in the art of sculpture to the 
young Princesses. This accomplished artist must feel 
very proud of the eminent rank which her pupils 
eventually attained. Of the talents exhibited by Princess 
Louise we shall have more to say elsewhere. 



LOUISE CAEOLIKE ALBEETA. 521 

Early in September, we are informed that her Eoyal 
Highness honoured Sir James Clark with a visit at 
Eagle's Nest, Bournemouth, accompanied by Lady C. 
Barrington, the Hon. Horatia Stopford, and others in 
attendance upon her. The Princess arrived at Bourne- 
mouth in the JElfin steam-yacht, and was received at the 
pier by Sir James Clark, who conducted her to the 
Eagle's Nest. After partaking of luncheon, her Royal 
Highness visited Cranborn Gardens, and then proceeded 
to the Flagstaff, which is the highest eminence at 
Bournemouth. The Princess, who was greatly pleased 
with the general appearance of the place, shortly after 
re-embarked on board the JElfin, and returned to Os- 
borne. 

The confirmation of H.R.H. Princess Louise took 
place at Whippingham Church, in the Isle of Wight, on 
Saturday, January 21st, 1865, when the ceremony was 
performed by his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Precisely at twelve o'clock her Majesty the Queen 
arrived at the church, accompanied by Princess Louise, 
having been preceded by their Royal Highnesses the 
Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Helena, Princes 
Arthur and Leopold, and Princess Beatrice. 

Her Majesty and the Royal family having taken their 
places on either side of the chancel, Princess Louise stood 
at the communion-rail, within which were the Arch- 
bishop, the Dean of Windsor, and the Rev. George 
Prothero. 

Her Majesty's next embarkation for Germany took 
place August 8th, 1865. The Queen, with Prince 
Leopold, the Princesses Helena, Louise, Beatrice, and 
suite, embarked soon after six o'clock, at the Royal 
Arsenal Pier, in the presence of a multitude of her loyal 



522 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

subjects. The Royal train was met at the different 
stations by the directors and other railway officials. 
The train entered the Royal Arsenal at about six 
o'clock, amidst the usual Royal salutes. Her Majesty 
and the Royal family were accompanied by their suite ; 
and on alighting from the carriages at the end of the 
pier, the Royal party was received by Commodore Dunlop 
(flag-officer of the port), Major-General Ward (com- 
mandant), and a staff of field officers; the pier and its 
approaches presenting a brilliant appearance. Her Majesty 
and' the Royal family and suite having been conducted 
to the place of embarkation by Commodore Dunlop, the 
Queen leading the Princess Beatrice, was followed by 
Prince Leopold, the Princesses Helena and Louise, with 
Prince Arthur, who went on board the Alberta, but did 
not accompany the Royal family down the river. Her 
Majesty, who was attired in deep mourning, appeared in 
good health and spirits, and repeatedly acknowledged in 
a most gracious manner the marks of loyalty shown 
by those assembled on the pier. On arriving at the 
pier-head, her Majesty and the Royal party walked on 
board the steam-vessel Alberta, and were there received 
by the Prince Leiningen, commander of the Royal steam- 
yacht, with whom her Majesty cordially shook hands, 
the bands of the Royal Artillery and Marines per- 
forming the National Anthem. Her Majesty soon after 
this took leave of Prince Arthur, who, accompanied by 
Major Elphinstone, returned to Greenwich ; and the 
Alberta steamed down the river to Greenhithe ; at which 
place the Queen embarked on board the Royal yacht, 
and proceeded to the Nore, where the Royal squadron 
remained during the night, and thence proceeded to 
Antwerp. 



LOUISE CAROLINE ALBEBTA. 523 

The Queen arrived at Coburg on the 11th of August, 
at eight a.m., and immediately proceeded to Rosenau. 

The Queen returned from Germany in September. Her 
Majesty having left the Castle at Rosenau with their 
Royal Highnesses the Princesses Helena and Louise, 
and Prince Leopold, stopped en route at Darmstadt, where 
she was met by the Grand Duke of Hesse. Her Majesty 
stopped also at Ostend to visit the late King Leopold. 
His Royal Highness Prince Leopold, with the re- 
mainder of the ladies and gentlemen and suite, went to 
Antwerp, and embarked in the Royal yacht Victoria and 
Albert. 

The Queen, after visiting the King, whom her Majesty 
found in much improved health, left Ostend and arrived 
by railway at Antwerp, and at once went on board her 
yacht, which steamed down the Scheldt. 

After a fine passage, her Majesty arrived off Greenhithe. 
A special train from Woolwich Arsenal conveyed the 
Queen and Royal family to Windsor Castle. 

At the Queen's first Court held this season (1866) at 
Buckingham Palace, both the Princesses Helena and 
Louise were present. The dress of Princess Louise is 
thus described : — 

The Princess wore a train of rich white silk, bor- 
dered with swansdown ; petticoat of white tulle over 
glace silk, trimmed with bows of white ribbon and black 
velvet ; head-dress — diamonds, feathers, and veil ; orna- 
ments — diamonds, Victoria and Albert Order, and the 
Order of St. Isabel. 

In the evening the Princess of Wales, with the Prin- 
cesses Helena and Louise, visited the Olympic Theatre.] 

The Queen and junior members of the Royal family con- 
tinued at Windsor Castle during March, 1866, in the en- 



524 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

joyment of excellent health. The mausoleum at Progmore 
was thrown open between twelve and three o'clock, on the 
anniversary of the death of the Duchess of Kent, that the 
members of the Royal household might visit the tomb. 
The Queen on this occasion was accompanied by Princess 
Louise, and walked and drove in the Castle grounds. 

Sunday, the 18th March, was the eighteenth anniver- 
sary of the birthday of the Princess Louise. 

Her Majesty, accompanied by Princesses Helena and 
Louise, honoured Baron Marochetti and Mr. Theed with 
visits at their studios ; and in the evening Princesses 
Helena and Louise visited the Olympic Theatre. 

On Saturday,- May 31st, 1866, the Queen, accompanied 
by Princess Helena, Princess Louise, and Prince Arthur, 
drove in a carriage and four to the cavalry barracks in 
Windsor. Her Majesty was received by Colonel the Hon. 
D. de Eos, commanding the 1st Regiment of Life 
Guards. The Regiment received the Queen with a Royal 
salute, and presented arms, the band playing. Her 
Majesty drove slowly past the Regiment, which was 
drawn up in line, and after inspecting the ranks, the 
Queen and the Royal family alighted, and proceeded to 
the north wing of the barracks and inspected the various 
alterations which had been carried out at her Majesty's 
suggestion. The Queen afterwards visited the library, 
the children's school, and the hospital, and thence pro- 
ceeded to the buildings in course of erection for the 
married men's quarters. After the visit of inspection 
her Majesty returned to the parade and witnessed a troop 
of twelve non-commissioned officers and troopers perform 
the "post" practice, under Riding-master Cox, at a 
gallop, the exercise including the various cavalry sabre 
cuts and thrusts. 



LOUISE CAROLINE ALBERTA. 525 

The great naval review at Spithead in 1866 must have 
been an interesting spectacle, witnessed as it was by 
the Queen, Princess Louise, and the Koyal family. The 
Queen embarked on board the Alberta at Trinity Pier, 
and went out to the Victoria and Albert yacht, Captain 
the Prince of Leiningen, in Cowes Roads, when the Royal 
yacht steamed round to Osborne bay, where she remained 
until the Osborne arrived with the Sultan on board. The 
Sultan came on board the Victoria and Albert with the 
Imperial Princes, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cam- 
bridge, the Viceroy of Egypt and his suite, &c. The 
Queen afterwards invested the Sultan with the Order of 
the Garter on the quarter-deck. Luncheon was shortly 
after served in the deck saloon. Then the Royal yacht 
steamed back through the fleet to Osborne bay, where 
the Queen and Royal family took leave of the Sultan, and 
proceeded in the Alberta to Osborne Pier. 

Princess Louise was present at the opening of Par- 
liament for the session of 1867. In this season her Royal 
Highness often accompanied the Princess of Wales in her 
drives. 

Princess Louise was, on the 10th May, 1867, one of the 
sponsors for the third child of the Prince and Princess of 
Wales, named Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar. 

June 24<th, 1867. — Princess Louise wore, at a Court 
held at Buckingham Palace, a train of blue and white 
silk, trimmed with blue and white satin, and a petticoat 
of white tulle over white glace, trimmed with blue and 
white; head-dress — blue convolvulus, feathers, and veil; 
diamond ornaments, and the Order of Victoria and Albert 
and of St. Isabel. 

The Queen laid the foundation-stone at Bagshot of 
the Royal Albert Asylum in July, 1867, when Prince and 
M M 



52G THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

Princess Louis of Hesse were present, and also Princess 
Louise. 

The Queen, after walking in the castle grounds at Wind- 
sor with Princess Louise on Monday, November 11th, gave 
Lord Stanley an audience. Subsequently, accompanied by 
Princess Louise, her Majesty entered the White Drawing 
Eoom, when Baron Dujardin, the Belgian Minister, and 
General Salomons, the Haytian Minister, were presented 
to the Queen by Lord Stanley, to deliver their credentials. 
On Saturday, November 16th, Princess Louise was her 
Majesty's companion in a visit to the Earl and Countess 
Delaware, at Knole Park, Sevenoaks, Kent. Her Majesty- 
was attended by Sir T. M. and Lady Biddulph and others 
of her suite. The Boyal party had travelled from Windsor 
by a special train, first on the Great Western Eailway to- 
Long Hedge Junction, and from this point by the London, 
Chatham, and Dover Railway to Sevenoaks, whence the 
Queen drove to Knole Park. Her Majesty remained to 
luncheon, and afterwards returned by the same route as 
that she had traversed in the morning. 

In December, the Court being still at Windsor, the 
Queen, accompanied by Princess Louise, and attended by 
Lady Churchill, Lord Charles Fitzroy, and Colonel du 
Plat, came to London and paid a visit of condolence to 
Viscountess Jocelyn, on the occasion of the death of her 
eldest daughter, the Hon. Alice Jocelyn; and also to visit 
Viscountess Palmerston at her residence in Park Lane. 

As might naturally be expected, the taste in dress of 
the Royal Princesses is excellent, and well adapted as a 
model for the daughters of the English nobility. 

On August 5th, 1868, the Queen, accompanied by 
Princesses Louise and Beatrice and by Prince Leopold, 
left Osborne for Switzerland, and embarked in the Victoria 



LOUISE CAROLINE ALBEBTA. 527 

and Albert for Cherbourg. Her Majesty, who travelled 
as the Countess of Kent, preserving a strict incognita, 
dined on board the yacht, and landed at eleven p.m. 
An Imperial train of ten carriages was provided for her 
accommodation, luxuriously fitted up. The route taken 
was by Bayeux, Caen, Evreux, and Nantes. When Paris 
was reached, her Majesty was received by Lord Lyons 
with his staff. The Queen proceeded in the Ambassador's 
carriage to the Hotel of the Embassy, remaining there 
during the day. Here she received a visit from the 
Empress Eugenie, and a visit also from the Duke of 
Edinburgh. The Queen went from Paris to Bale, and 
then continued her journey through exquisite scenery to 
Lucerne. The residence occupied by the Queen and Eoyal 
family there is called the Yilla (Pension) Wallace. It 
stands on a hill, overlooking the town, with the Bighi 
on the left, and Mont Pilatus, distinguished by its ser- 
rated ridge, upon the right, and the lake and snowy St. 
Gothard range of Alps immediately located in front. 
Other members of the Eoyal suite were in a pretty chalet, 
situated in the grounds, and closely adjoining the lake. 
The scenery of this neighbourhood is perhaps unequalled 
in Europe. 

The Queen here enjoyed, under her assumed name, 
the strictest retirement, and was highly delighted with 
her visit to this place. While at Lucerne, her Majesty 
drove out daily in a carriage and four, and made frequent 
excursions in the neighbourhood with the different 
members of her family. On one of these the Queen was 
accompanied by Princess Louise and Prince Leopold, when 
she crossed the lake by steamer to Brunnen, and drove 
home by Goldau. Another tour was made, again Princess 
Louise being her companion, and the Marchioness of Ely, 
m M 2 



528 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Sir William Jenner, and Major-General Sir T. M. Biddulph 
in attendance, when her Majesty left Lucerne for the 
Piirka, near the St. Gothard Pass, and spent three days 
at a small inn at Fliiclen. All state etiquette was set aside 
on these tours. On one occasion her Majesty even 
alighted at a road-side inn, and partook of tea. Again 
Princess Louise accompanied the Queen, and with Prince 
Leopold made an excursion to the Righi Culm ; and 
another time drove with her Eoyal mother to Engelberg. 

When the Queen visited the cattle-sheds on the Gutsch, 
while the servant was engaged feeding the beasts, the 
man saluted her Majesty with " Good day, Madam Queen." 
Her Majesty smiled, and asked various questions as to the 
management of the cattle. Another time the Queen went 
to Goldau, and took a seat to draw, while her suite went 
on the Schritt. After some time, her Majesty called 
a poor woman, who was standing near, to summon her 
attendants to return, for which service the Queen amply 
rewarded her. 

It was during this visit that Princess Louise made an 
ascent of Mont Pilatus with the Queen, the particulars 
of which are extremely interesting. 

At the close of their visit to Switzerland the Eoyal 
travellers returned first to Windsor, and afterwards pro- 
ceeded to Balmoral. 

On 13th March, 1869, Princess Louise, attended by the 
Duchess of Roxburgh and the rest of her suite, visited 
Prince Arthur, at the Ranger's Lodge, Greenwich, and 
remained to luncheon ; after which Princess Louise and 
Prince Arthur drove to Deptford Dockyard, and were 
present at the launch of her Majesty's steamship Druid, 
the ceremony of christening the ship being performed by 
the Princess Louise. 



LOUISE CAROLINE ALBERTA. 



529 



Their Eoyal Highnesses, on their arrival, were received 
with due honours, by Captain A. P. E. Wilmot, C.B., 
Captain Superintendent, Admiral Sir Henry Denham, 
Captain Edmonstone, C.B., and W. E. P. Saunders, the 
Master Shipwright. The Princess Louise christened the 
vessel in the usual style, and with a chisel and mallet cut 
the cord to which the weight for knocking away the dog- 
shore was attached, and the ship moved down into the 
water amid the hearty cheers of a large number of spec- 
tators. Their Eoyal Highnesses and the principal 
visitors drank success to the Druid, and with this the last 
of the launches at Deptford was brought to a close. 
Their Eoyal Highnesses were conducted to their carriages 
and returned home. 

The twenty-first anniversary of the birth of Princess 
Louise, on the 18th March, was kept very privately, 
owing to the recent death of the Duke of Schleswig-Hol- 
stein. 

Princess Louise accompanied her mother the Queen, 
in May, 1869, in her State visit to the Eoyal Academy, 
where she was received by the President, Sir F. Grant, and 
the members of the Eoyal Academy. Sir S. Smirke, 
E.A., was on this visit presented to the Queen as architect 
of the new buildings of the Eoyal Acaden^. The Eoyal 
visitors inspected the pictures and statuary for more than 
an hour. 

A reviewer of the sculptures at Burlington House gives 
precedence to the bust of the Queen executed by the 
Princess Louise, as " well deserving high commendation. 
As the unassisted production of an amateur, it is one of 
the most remarkable works we have seen. The likeness is 
singularly faithful ; regal dignity is combined with anima- 
tion, the modelling is refined^ the action of the neck well 



530 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

understood ; the carriage of the head, too, is admi- 
rable." 

Princess Louise is equally at home in sculpture and in 
painting. Casts in stearine from two busts of Prince 
Leopold and Princess Amelie of Saxe-Coburg, are worthy 
of the sculptor who wrought the admirable bust of her 
Majesty which we have just adverted to. 

"But her most important contribution is a picture 
painted in body colours, called ' In Aid of Sufferers.' 
The scene is that of a battle-field at nightfall — the 
figures of dead and wounded faintly discernible over 
the darkling plain, and the deep-blue sky contrasted by 
the glare of burning houses on the horizon. In the 
front a Sister of Charity pitifully stanches the bleeding 
breast of a desperately wounded soldier, whilst another 
Sister is advancing to render further aid. The picture 
is excellent in composition, drawing, and effect. At 
first sight it recals in some measure the picture of the 
battle-field by the Princess Royal, executed at the time 
of the Crimean War ; but on comparing it with a chromo- 
lithograph of that picture hanging beneath, it was found 
to be essentially distinct." 

Princess Louise was one of the sponsors at the baptism 
of the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of St. Albans, in 
May, 1869. 

At the Drawing Room, held at Buckingham Palace, 
May 1869, the dress worn by her Royal Highness con- 
sisted of a train of rich blue crystalline silk, trimmed 
with white tulle, and a petticoat of white tulle, trimmed 
with blue satin and yellow roses. Head dress — feathers 
and veil with roses, and a diadem of rubies and diamonds. 
Diamond ornaments, Victoria and Albert Order, Order of 
St. Isabel, and the Coburg and Grotha family Order. 



LOUISE CAKOLI^E ALBERTA. 531 

Her Majesty passed at Balmoral the fiftieth anniversary 
of her birth (24th May, 1869). There, after investing 
Prince Arthur with the Order of the Thistle, and Prince 
Leopold with the Order of the Garter, the Queen planted 
a tree in commemoration of the event. The Glassalt Shiel 
was the drive chosen by her Majesty, in which she was 
accompanied by Princess Louise, Prince Leopold, and the 
Duke of Argyll. 

The Queen, accompanied by Princesses Louise and 
Beatrice, and Princes Arthur and Leopold, were present 
at a dance given in honour of the Eoyal birthday to the 
tenants and retainers on the estates of Balmoral, Aberdeen, 
and Birkhall, which took place in a marquee close to the 
Castle, and began as early as half-past five o'clock in the 
afternoon. 

On June 21st, 1869, Princess Louise, attended by the 
Hon. Mrs. Wellesley, went to Hampton Court, and was 
present at the Bazaar in aid of the Cambridge Asylum. 

At the Queen's State Ball, at Buckingham Palace, 
Princess Louise was present with the other members of 
the Eoyal family. 

The dress she wore on this occasion was of straw- 
coloured poult de soie, trimmed with bouillons of straw 
tulle, and a scarf of white gossamer, trimmed with white 
fringe, looped back with chatelains of green and purple 
grapes and vine-leaves. Head-dress — a wreath of vine-leaves 
and grapes with diamonds. Ornaments — diamonds, the 
Victoria and Albert Order, the Order of St. Isabel, and 
the Coburg and Gotha family Order. 

On Saturday evening, the 31st October, 1869, the 
Queen, with the Princess Louise and the other members of 
the Eoyal family, witnessed from the Castle the old 
Highland custom of keeping Halloween, by the lighting 



532 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

of bonfires, and by a procession of torchbearers. The 
gathering numbered about one hundred. The torchbearers, 
after making the circuit of the Castle, ended the festivi- 
ties by dancing reels to the strains of her Majesty's 
piper. 

At the opening of Blackfriars' Bridge, early in Novem- 
ber, 1869, Princess Louise rode in the carriage with her 
Majesty, Princess Beatrice, and Prince Leopold. The 
Eoyal party was most enthusiastically received through- 
out the entire route. 

The New Hall of the Inner Temple was opened by her 
Royal Highness Princess Louise on Saturday, May 14th, 
1870. She came at half-past one, with Prince Christian, 
attended by Lady Churchill, the Hon. Miss Cavendish, 
the Lord Chamberlain, Colonel Lynedoeh Gardiner, 
Colonel the Hon. A. Hardinge, and Colonel Grant Gordon. 
The Princess wore a dress of pale blue gauze. The Royal 
party was received at the entrance to the building by the 
Treasurer and the senior Benchers of the Inner Temple, 
who conducted them up the stone steps, and along the 
southern corridor to the western door of the New Hall, 
under the gallery. Among the distinguished persons 
were the Lord Chancellor, and Chief Justice Bovill, in 
their robes, Lord Westbury, Mr. Lowe, Mr. Cardwell, 
Mr. Bruce, and Mr. Goschen, in plain attire. The 
Princess and her company were conducted to the upper 
end of the hall, whence passing through an eastern door, 
and an ante-chamber, she arrived at a staircase leading to 
the library, at the foot of which is a door, giving access to 
the private apartments of the Treasurer. At this door 
Mrs. Pickering met the procession, and presented to the 
Princess a magnificent bouquet, which, having been 
graciously accepted, her Royal Highness proceeded to 



LOUISE CAROLINE ALBERTA. 533 

the Library, and took the place assigned to her, with 
Prince Christian on her right hand. The senior Benchers 
and the guests admitted to the library having formed 
a circle, the Treasurer read an address to the Princess, and 
she then gave this gracious reply : — 

"It gives me much pleasure to be permitted to re- 
present the Queen, my dear mother, on an occasion of so 
much interest to the profession of which you are 
members. Her Majesty authorizes me to express the 
cordial satisfaction with which she has learnt the comple- 
tion of the beautiful building which you have erected on a 
site so rich in historical interest, and so long associated 
with the illustrious Bar of England. I thank you for the 
kindness with which you have received me here to-day, 
and I will not fail to communicate to the Queen your 
expression of loyal attachment to her throne and person." 

The Treasurer next turned to his Poyal Highness 
Prince Christian, and said, that he had the honour to 
announce that his Poyal Highness had been elected a 
Bencher of the Inner Temple, if he would please to 
accept the office. The Prince replied : " It will give me 
sincere pleasure." He was hereupon invested by the 
Treasurer with a Bencher's gown, which seemed to afford 
some amusement to the Princess. 

Their Eoyal Highnesses signed their names in the 
visitors' book, and were again conducted to the hall. The 
Treasurer took the chair afc the raised table, with the 
Princess on his right hand, and Prince Christian on his 
left ; and the dejeuner was served. At the same table 
were the ladies in attendance on her Poyal Highness ; and 
there were also the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Cham- 
berlain, Lord Westbury, Chief Justice Bovill, the Master 
of the Temple, Mr. Lowe, Mr. Bruce, Mr. Card well, Mr. 



Ool THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

Goschen, and the Hon. Colonel Hardinge. After the 
toast of " The Queen" and " Princess Louise" had 
been duly honoured, the health of Prince Christian was 
given, as the junior Bencher, and his Royal Highness 
responded in excellent English. The Princess then rose 
from the table and pronounced very emphatically, " I 
declare this Hall opened." 

The proceedings of the day were then over, and her 
Royal Highness departed amidst loud cheers. 

A fancy bazaar, to obtain means of raising a fund for 
the enlargement of the North-Eastern Hospital for 
Children, Hackney Road, near Shoreditch Church, was 
held during three days at the City Terminus Hotel, 
Cannon Street. It was opened on Monday, August 16th, 
1870, by her Eoyal Highness Princess Louise. The 
great hall of the hotel was elegantly decorated, and the 
stalls were filled with the usual miscellaneous collec- 
tion of fancy toys and needlework, placed on each side 
' of the room, the centre of which was left open for the 
visitors. 

The Princess, accompanied by her suite, arrived soon 
after twelve. She was received by the Reception Com- 
mittee, and conducted upstairs to the hall, a choir in the 
gallery singing " God save the Queen." After going round 
the " fancy fair," inspecting stalls and making purchases, 
her Royal Highness took her station on a dais erected at 
the upper end of the hall, Lady Churchill standing on 
the right, and Mrs. Allsop on the left hand. Mr. Charles 
Reed, M.P., read an address, after which Miss J. M. Tylor, 
and three other ladies, all dressed in white, presented a 
bouquet, and Miss Hannah de Rothschild an illuminated 
copy of the address, to the Princess, who received these 
presents with a gracious smile. The choir sang " Hail ! 



LOUISE CAHOLXNE AL3E2TA. 535 

smiling morn ;" and the Princess took her departure 
amidst the cheers of a crowd outside. 

There was, by the Queen's command, a State Ball at 
Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, May 17th, 1S70, at 
which the JPrincess Louise was present. The King of 
the Belgians, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince 
Christian, and the Princess Teck were also present. 1800 
Were invited. 

On this occasion Princess Louise wore a dress of 
rich lace and tulle, ornamented with garlands of dif- 
ferent coloured roses ; head-dress, roses and diamonds ; 
ornaments, diamonds ; orders, Victoria and Albert, the 
Order of St. Isabel, and the Coburg and Gotha family 
Order. 

Princess Louise's name will for ever be associated with the 
opening of the Thames Embankment. Her Eoyal Highness 
came to Marlborough House on the appointed day to meet 
the Prince, and proceeded thence to the place, where 
they arrived at twelve o'clock ; the line of embankment 
was gaily decorated for the occasion ; the pavilion or 
grand stand was covered with crimson cloth, striped 
awning, &c., and a gallery on each side, and there was 
another stand also, towards Charing Cross, for 15,000 
people. The Eoyal procession consisted of five carriages, 
in the fourth of which rode Tiscount Sydney, Lord Cham- 
berlain, Earl of Bessborough, the Lord Steward ; Lady 
Churchill, the lady in attendance on her Eoyal Highness 
Princess Louise. The fifth carriage contained the Mar- 
quis of Ailesbury, the Master of the Horse ; her Eoyal 
Highness Princess Louise, his Eoyal Highness the Prince 
of Wales. The route taken by the procession was by the 
Mall, the Horse Guards, Whitehall, and Parliament Street, 
to Westminster Bridge, where the procession entered on 



530 THE EOYAL PRINCESSES. 

the Embankment. It was there met by Sir John Thwaites, 
Chairman of the Board of Works, and others, who pro- 
ceeded along the Embankment in advance of their Boyal 
Highnesses to the pavilion. As the Boyal carriage drove 
up the guard of honour presented arms, and their Boyal 
Highnesses were received with a general cheer, which 
they courteously acknowledged. Sir John Thwaites pre- 
sented the Prince of Wales with an address, explaining 
the construction of the Embankment, and asking the 
Boyal approval. The Prince, who was attired in a 
military uniform, briefly replied, commending the Em- 
bankment for its beauty and convenience, and referring 
to the sanitary benefits of the main drainage works con- 
nected therewith. 

After a few minutes' halt, the Boyal procession 
passed along the Embankment towards Blackfriars. 
The Prince and Princess Louise were cheered from 
the stand, at Charing Cross, and at several other 
points, as King's College, the Temple Pier, and Black- 
friars Bridge, all crowded with spectators, and gaily 
surmounted with flags. Beturning to the pavilion, and 
thence to Westminster Bridge, their Boyal Highnesses 
were greeted with the warmest cheers. Having gone over 
the entire ground, the Prince of Wales formally declared 
the Victoria Embankment open to the public, and a Boyal 
salute was fired to announce the event, while the bells of 
Westminster Abbey sent forth a merry peal of congratu- 
lation. The same route was adopted by the procession on 
returning to Marlborough House, the whole being accom- 
plished in about an hour. 

While the Queen was at Balmoral in October, 1870, the 
weather was very inclement, yet her Majesty and her 
daughters continued to dwell at the Castle — where indeed 



LOUISE CAKOLItfE ALBERTA. 537 

they found it desirable to remain on account of the acci- 
dent which for a time disabled Princess Louise for exer- 
tion. This accident to the Princess Louise was a 
sprained knee. 

The Royal party again witnessed the festival of Hal- 
loween. It was about this time, too, that the Queen 
contributed 100Z., the Princess Louise the sum of 201., 
and her brother, Prince Leopold, the same amount in aid 
of the Captain Relief Fund. 

The Marquis of Lome visited the Queen at Balmoral 
Castle during the month of October. 

The Queen left Balmoral on Nov. 24th, at one o'clock, 
posting from Ballater, accompanied by her two daugh- 
ters and Prince Leopold. Princess Louise was con- 
veyed from a couch to the railway saloon. Dr. Mar- 
shall of Braemar, who had been in attendance upon her 
Royal Highness during her indisposition, accompanied 
the Princess to Windsor. The Queen travelled by a 
special train, provided by the London and North-Western 
Company, occupying a State saloon. At Aberdeen a con- 
course of two thousand persons assembled, among whom 
were the Lord Provost and the chief civic authorities, Sir 
Thomas Gladstone, and the Chairman and various Direc- 
tors of the Deeside Railway. The Royal travellers were 
greeted upon their arrival with enthusiastic cheers, which 
her Majesty acknowledged by bowing from the windows ; 
but the cheers being continued, the blinds of Princess 
Louise's saloon were drawn up, and her Royal Highness' s 
couch was conveyed to the window, whence the Princess 
acknowledged the kindly demonstrations of affection 
towards her by repeatedly bowing. The journey was 
afterwards continued to Perth, where the Queen and the 
Royal family dined in the committee-room of the station, 



53S THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

which had been specially fitted up for the occasion. At 
Beattock the train stopped ten minutes, that the saloons 
might be arranged for the night. The rest of the journey 
to Windsor was continued with but slight intermission. 
A pilot engine preceded the Royal train by a quarter of 
an hour, and every arrangement was made that could con- 
tribute to the safety and comfort of the Queen. 

The first public mention of the intended union of the 
charming Princess Louise to the Marquis of Lome was thus 
made in the Morning Post, in the year 1870 : — 

" The Queen has given her consent to the marriage of 
her fourth daughter, Louise Caroline Alberta, to the Mar- 
quis of Lome, eldest son of the Duke of Argyll. We may 
add that the Marquis was bom 6th August, 1845." 

This announcement caused as much pleasurable feeling 
as surprise among the public. The extreme popularity of 
the young Princess, and the great sympathy felt for her 
happiness and future welfare, gave a peculiar character to 
the sentiments expressed, and there can be no doubt that 
the choice thus heralded was received with heartfelt 
acclamation. 

We have been assured by those well qualified to form 
an opinion, that a perfect sympathy of taste in literature, 
music, and all the elegant accomplishments of refined life, 
between the young couple, forms the basis of the ardent 
attachment which happily exists between them. So 
devoted, indeed, is the regard of the Princess for the 
object of her attachment, that she has been known to 
declare should any unfavourable difficulty arise to prevent 
her union with the Marquis of Lome, there was one thing 
she was determined upon : never to marry a foreign 
prince. We think this is a strong proof that an 
attachment so deep must have commenced in early life, and 



LOUISE CAEOLINE ALBERTA. 539 

that in the heart of the Princess it must " have grown with 
her growth, and strengthened with her strength." 

We here subjoin a brief account of the noble family of 
Argyll, so well worthy of the new honour about to be 
conferred on them. 

The ancient family of Campbell, of which the present 
Duke of Argyll is the representative, through a descent 
of eight centuries, derived the Lordship of Lochow, 
in Argyleshire, by marriage with an heiress. From Sir 
Colin Campbell of Lochow, the chief of the house is still 
called MacCullum More. He was knighted by Alexan- 
der III., 1280, and an obelisk yet remains to show the 
spot where this gallant chieftain fell, in conflict with his 
powerful neighbour, the Lord of Lome. 

The present Duke is the eighth who has enjoyed that 
high rank, and John Douglas Sutherland, Marquis of 
Lome, M.P. for Argyleshire, his eldest son, born August 
6th, 1845, by the Duke's marriage with the sister of the 
present Duke of Sutherland. 

Of the Sutherland family so much is familiar to the 
English reader that it seems scarcely necessary to say 
anything here. The late Duchess was third daughter of 
George, sixth Earl of Carlisle, and married to George 
Granville, second Duke of Sutherland, by whom she had 
four sons and seven daughters. On the death of his father, 
in 1861, the eldest son succeeded to the title, and is the 
present Duke. The Duchess-Dowager, his mother, died 
October 27th, 1868. The eldest daughter, Elizabeth 
Georgiana, by her marriage with the present Duke of 
Argyll, July 31st, 1844, became mother of a numerous 
family, the eldest of whom is John Douglas Sutherland, 
Marquis of Lome. 

We may add that there are to be eight bridesmaids ; 



540 THE ROYAL PRINCESSES. 

the seven named below are to have the honour of attending 
upon the Princess Louise : Lady Constance Seymour, 
daughter of the Marquis of Hertford ; Lady Elizabeth 
Campbell, daughter of the Duke of Argyll ; Lady Florence 
Lennox, daughter of the Duke of Richmond ; Lady 
Florence Leveson-Gower, daughter of the Duke of Suther- 
land ; Lady Mary Butler, daughter of the Marquis of 
Ormonde ; Lady Alice Fitzgerald, daughter of the Mar- 
quis of Kildare ; and Lady Florence Montague, daughter 
of the Earl of Sandwich. 

The 21st of March is the day fixed on for the marriage 
of her Royal Highness the Princess Louise, and we are 
quite sure that every one of our young countrywomen will 
desire that the sun may pour forth his brightest smiles on 
the fair bride, and bless her and the object of her affec- 
tions in the path they commence together on that day. 

Mr. Gladstone proposed in the House of Commons the 
dowry of the Princess Louise (£30,000), amidst cheers 
of approval. During this hearty expression of loyal regard, 
the House was surprised at Mr. Taylor, the member for 
Leicester, rising to move its rejection ; a proceeding which 
was received with continuous cries of impatience. A divi- 
sion was forthwith taken, which resulted in the grant 
being carried by 350 to 1 — the unit being Mr. Fawcett, 
the blind member for Brighton. The upshot of course 
created hearty laughter. The Annuity Bill (£6000 per 
annum) has now become law. 

Princess Louise, being so much beloved, has on this 
occasion received many tokens of affection not only from 
her family but from the Clan Campbell, and other sources. 



THE END. 



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